


Cherry Meets the Wild Thornberrys

by PerkyGoth14



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Wild Thornberrys
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-25
Updated: 2015-10-25
Packaged: 2018-04-30 15:34:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 27,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5169104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerkyGoth14/pseuds/PerkyGoth14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Fudo and Forte family are going to East Africa to visit an old friend of Mo's and her family known as the famous Thornberrys who travel over the world for their nature show. Along the way, the kids discover that like them, Eliza can talk to animals, and they must learn how to put their extraordinary powers into good use to do extraordinary things in their new adventure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was a rare time, but the Forte and Fudo family were about to meet together, along with another family.

Mo was on the phone right now and agreeing to something while she had her kids read books she had given them as an assignment. "That sounds good, we'll see you all then..." she said before hanging up and then smiled. She then walked into the living room to join her children again as they continued to read their books until their lunch would be ready.

"What do you think will be for lunch?" Estelle asked.

"Maybe steak." Vincent and Akito said in unison.

"Yeah... Steak sounds good..." Estelle agreed with them.

Mo overheard that and decided to whip up steaks for their lunch.

The kids finished their books, but Mo was still cooking, she put the steak in the oven and decided to talk with them until it would be ready to serve for them. Vulpix, Larvitar, and Teddyursa then came out of their pokeballs, which were next to their other pokeballs which were empty, along with their Pokedex's next to them. Mo gently pet the Pokemon.

"Who was on the phone, Mom?" Akito asked, hoping that wouldn't seem rude to ask. "Was it... Important?"

"Don't worry, not a business call," Mo promised with a small smile. "It was just some old friends of mine... They wanted us to come and see them."

"Who were they, Mom?" Vincent asked.

"The Thornberry family." Mo revealed with a smile.

"You mean the same Thornberry family that explore around the world documenting every animal that they can find?" Akito asked.

"Yep, the very same." Mo told him.

"That's amazing! Where will we be meeting them?" Estelle asked.

"They're visiting East Africa," Mo replied, but then frowned. "I just hope those poachers your father is trying to track down won't be there."

"Don't worry, Mom, if anyone can track down ones like those poachers it's Dad." Vincent smiled.

"He's a very brilliant man," Mo smiled proudly of her loved one. "Also, your Aunt Cherry and Uncle Forte will be in Africa as well."

"Aunt Cherry?" Estelle asked in disbelief. "In Africa?"

"Why would Aunt Cherry be in Africa?" Akito asked. "I mean, isn't Africa one of the most hottest places on Earth?"

Mo shrugged. "Maybe your uncle talked her into it."

"Eloise wants to go to Africa someday, maybe we could all go with her after we experience it ourselves." Vincent suggested.

"Maybe, I'm sure that would be a nice trip." Mo smiled back, then heard the oven go off and she quickly went to check on it.

"I wanna race a cheetah," Akito said in determination. "I bet Rev's training could give me a little advantage."

"Well, with your super speed, you'll definitely be able to keep up with it." Vincent told him.

"What's a cheetah?" The three Pokemon asked.

"A cheetah is a super fast animal," Akito explained to them. "This can really help them hunt."

"Oh..." the three Pokemon then said.

"Um, aren't those the singers Estelle listens to sometimes?" Teddyursa asked.

"No, those are the Cheetah Girls," Estelle corrected. "They aren't animals, they're just pop stars."

"Ohh." Teddyursa said.

"I can't wait to see an actual cheetah." Larvitar said.

"Yeah, me neither..." Akito chuckled in excitement.

"How soon are we going to Africa then?" Vincent asked their mother.

"We're gonna have to get all packed up and be ready to go tomorrow," Mo said to them. "It's a lot of hard work traveling to other countries. Remember Paris?"

"Yes, we sure do." Estelle nodded.

"I hope Aunt Darla and Eloise have more fun in Paris than we did with that Coco LaBouche lady." Akito commented.

"I wonder what happened to her after the wedding?" Estelle thought out loud.

"Well, whatever happened, I hope she gets what she deserves." Vincent folded his arms.

"You and me both." Vulpix said, nuzzling against his legs.

"Who's Coco LaBouche?" Larvitar and Teddyursa asked.

"A mean French lady." Estelle and Akito folded their arms firmly.

"It's a long story, guys, we'll tell you before bed." Vincent offered.

"Trust me, you're lucky you never got to meet her." Vulpix told his fellow Pokemon.

"Wow, was she really that mean?" Teddyursa asked.

"The worst!" Akito nearly exclaimed. "She hated kids and only married Chuckie's dad just so she could become President of EuroReptar!"

The Pokemon did not know what exactly that meant, but from the way Akito said them, they could tell that they were not very good.

After lunch, the kids had free time, so they decided to tell the story of their adventure in Paris while deciding what to bring with them on this trip to East Africa with the Thornberry family.

"Wow, so she was humiliated?" Larvitar asked with a smile.

"Yeah," Estelle giggled. "Before she left, we stepped on her gown and then it ripped off, showing her underwear and she ran away with that guy Jean-Claude after Tommy and Dil's dog got him."

"Wow, they must be far away by now." Teddyursa said.

"Eloise can tell us the next time she goes to Paris with Aunt Darla." Vincent shrugged.

"Eloise?" Teddyursa asked.

"So much to learn in so little time..." Estelle said as she patted her Pokemon on the head.

"You're telling me." Teddyursa said.

"Remember to dress warmly, guys," Vincent reminded his siblings. "This is Africa."

Akito and Estelle nodded as they continued to go through their clothes and supplies they would want to bring for themselves.

Mo was getting the steak to the way her kids liked it and answered the phone again after it rang. "Hello?" she asked, balancing the phone on her shoulder while she worked.

"Hello, Mo, is everything okay?" A woman on the phone asked.

"Oh, yes, everything is fine," Mo reassured with a smile. "Just making lunch for the kids, but I can talk."

"Oh, that's good, I can't wait to meet them and neither can Eliza, especially after I told about those wonderful creatures they have with them, I believe you called them Pokemon, right?" The woman on the phone said hoping she was correct.

"That's them all right," Mo said with a smile. "Some people call them 'Pocket Monsters'. I bet Eliza would love to meet them too."

"Oh, she will, she's always wanting to meet a new animal." The woman on the phone told her.

"Well, they're not exactly animals, but I'm sure Eliza will get along with them," Mo smiled. "You guys still on the road?"

"Yeah, just get ready, we have a wild child among us these days." the woman reminded her.

"I grew up living in a junkyard for most of my childhood, I think I can handle anything, Marianne." Mo reassured.

"That's true, well anyway, I'll let you get back to preparing lunch." Marianne said.

"Sounds good, see you real soon!" Mo said before she hung up and went back to preparing lunch for the kids.

The kids went back to the kitchen table with their Pokemon. Mo got the steak the way everybody liked it, and started to cut it up and serve it for lunch.

"Ooh, this is going to be delicious." Akito said.

Mo smiled a little, blushing slightly. The Fudo siblings then settled down and ate their lunch, also thinking about their trip to East Africa, anxious to meet the Thornberry family.

"Maybe we'll meet Kopa there," Akito smiled. "Then again, he would be in the African jungle."

"Maybe another time if we visit Africa for a family vacation." Mo said to him with a soft smile.

"That would be nice." Estelle agreed.

Meanwhile...

Forte served his own family lunch. Cherry poured black wine for herself and Forte, then poured water for Simon and Felicity.

"I still can't believe that we're going back to Africa." Felicity smiled.

"I hope you enjoy it..." Cherry said and went to sit at her seat, taking her food plate.

Simon grabbed his meat and started to gnaw at it and growled viciously like a carnivorous predator.

"Smaller bites, Simon!" Cherry scolded.

Simon glared to her, he took out his own knife and started to cut it, despite being too young to be handling a knife.

"He's becoming more aggressive," Forte warned her. "Should we be worried?"

"He's growing up," Cherry insisted. "Just another year and he can start preschool."

"I am shuddering to imagine what preschool would accept him..." Felicity looked nervous.

Simon ripped off a big piece of his meat and swallowed it, then started to chew the next slice.

"Well, let's hope that it's one that won't have any kids being killed." Forte said.

"Not this time," Cherry made Simon promise, looking to him firmly. "Remember what I said about other kids who are different than you."

Simon swallowed his food, he was now around the age of three, he did not speak that often, but occasionally said things, but mostly discussing with his mother and no one else. "They're all a bunch of Nazi conformist cheerleaders..." he spoke up.

Cherry patted him on the head without any emotion.

"Well, that is a good thing." Forte said.

Felicity stared at her brother and continued to have her meal with her family. "When are we going into Africa?"

"Tomorrow," Cherry told her after sipping her wine. "Luckily we don't need to travel like most people do... Just be ready to go for when we call you, so no playing with too many of your toys, that'll take you forever."

"Oui, Maman..." Felicity nodded to her mother.

Simon didn't say anything, but nodded his head. Misdreavus comes out of it's pokeball and floats over to her trainer.

Felicity kept eating and then smiled to her Pokemon, going over to it instantly, giving it a hug. "Good evening..."

"Good evening, Felicity," Misdreavus bowed. "Good evening, everyone."

Felicity giggled to her Pokemon. Simon merely glanced to Misdreavus, but put his little hand up.

"Oh, Flick, be sure to put that back in the ball when we travel, I don't want it to freak out." Cherry replied.

"Oui, Maman..." Felicity nodded. "I understand."

"Where are we going?" Misdreavus asked.

"East Africa," Cherry told her daughter's 'pet'. "We're going to meet Mo, Atticus, their children, and the Thornberrys."

"Ooh, and who are the Thornberry's?" Misdrevus asked.

"They are a family who have this nature program on television," Felicity informed. "I hear they are old friends of Tante Mo's."

"Cool, I can't wait to meet them." Misdreavus smiled.

"Just be on your best behavior." Felicity warned her Pokemon.

"Yes, I will behave." Misdreavus nodded.

"Good..." Felicity smiled and pet her Pokemon.

Simon finished eating his dinner and pounded on the table.

"Simon, use your words!" Forte told his son.

Simon looked frightened of him, but looked to his mother. "More..."

"What's the magic word?" Cherry prompted.

"NOW!" Simon narrowed his eyes.

Cherry then took his plate to give him more food.

"Well, that's close to saying please." Forte shrugged.

"I blame his birth during the Addams family reunion..." Cherry commented as she got more food for the 'baby'.

"I am excited to go to Africa," Felicity said to her brother. "Aren't you?"

"I'm so happy I could scream..." Simon scoffed.

"He has your heart..." Forte whispered to Cherry about Simon's behavior.

"Yeah, I know and I think he'll be fine." Cherry said.

"Probably..." Forte looked to Simon.

Cherry gave Simon another new plate of food. "Simon, go straight to bed after dinner..."

Simon glared to her as she then looked around, he took out a small bow and arrow. Cherry noticed something dropped to the floor and bent to get it. Simon shot the arrow, missing her and looked very angry in defeat.

"Did he actually try to kill your mother?" Misdreavus asked.

"Papa says it's a phase." Felicity whispered.

"How is that a phase?" Misdreavus asked. "How can that possibly be a phase?"

Felicity merely shrugged.


	2. Chapter 2

The families had their meals together, got packed up, and they were all set to leave tomorrow and would make it to East Africa by nightfall, they were now traveling to meet the Thornberry family after filming another episode for their nature show.

"This is going to be so exciting." Misdreavus smiled.

"Excuse moi, Misdreavus, we are almost ready." Felicity said as she wore her backpack, she also had on a short-sleeved white shirt and yellow shorts, but still wore her black boots. 

Misdreavus nodded and was ready.

Felicity returned her Pokemon to her Pokeball and put it in her pocket. "Okay, Maman!"

"Come to our closet!" Cherry called from her and Forte's bedroom.

Felicity grabbed her backpack straps tightly and rushed to join her family.

"Alright, is everyone here?" Forte asked.

"Yep..." Cherry walked over as she held Simon's hand, he wore a black shirt with black shorts and sneakers.

"Set the coordinates." Forte told his wife.

Cherry scooted closer with her family once they were set, she typed at a keypad. The closet whirred up as they came inside the door and in a flash of white bright light, they were gone.

Back with the Fudo family, they were all ready as well.

"This is one thing I hate about traveling," Mo sighed. "I always feel like I'm forgetting something."

"Well, don't worry, we haven't forgotten a thing." Atticus assured his wife.

"Hmm..." Mo rubbed her head, still trying to think. "Well... Okay... How's your case going?"

"I still can't find the identity of those poachers," Atticus sighed. "They're really sneaky..."

"Don't worry, you'll get them." Mo tried to help.

"That's right, Dad, you'll be able to catch them." Akito told his father.

"I hope so..." Atticus sighed a little. "But, I'll try not to let my work interfere with family like with Zadavia and her brother... I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys that, but Zadavia didn't want anyone to know until it would be all taken care of."

"It's okay, we understand now." Vincent smiled.

Mo checked the time. "Ooh, we better get going so we're not too late."

The family rushed together, making their way for East Africa.

"Must not be late, must not be late, must not be late." Akito said while running.

"I hate being rushed!" Vincent cried.

"Stay close!" Mo told the kids so they wouldn't get lost or left behind.

The entire Fudo family kept running until they would get the fastest way to East Africa. Luckily they kept together to make it to East Africa in time without one of them being abandoned like a true, close, and loving family. And where lucky for them, they made it just in time.

"Okay, we can relax now..." Mo told her children once they made it. 

"Thank goodness..." Akito wasn't that much out of breath as his family was. "Why does rushing always feel like the end of the world?"

"Because if we missed it, we would have to wait for the next one." Atticus explained.

"Yeah..." Akito and Estelle shrugged.

Mo handed their passports in after their bags went to the claim to get on the plane. 

After checks with everything being just fine, the family was able to go on the plane and make it to their way to East Africa. It would not take as long as their flight to Paris, France, but would still take a good chunk of their time.

"This is so exciting." Vincent said.

"Indeed." Mo agreed.

The parents slept on the way, the kids tried to do the same, but due to being kids with excitement, that was a challenge.


	3. Chapter 3

Thankfully, they managed to distract themselves and the plane landed, allowing them to go out as the sun was setting in Africa.

"Wow." Vincent said, amazed.

"Too bad we can't see Kopa..." Akito sighed. "Oh, well, there's always next time."

"They'll probably hear about our arrival." Estelle suggested with a smile.

"Yeah, I guess they will." Akito smiled.

"Well, you two are the best of friends and will be happy to see all of us again." Atticus said.

Vincent smiled.

The plane landed, they gathered their bags and ventured out into Africa.

"Phew!" Mo waved her hand in front of her face. "I still can't decide whether Africa or Australia is hotter."

"I think it's Australia." Atticus said.

"Probably..." Mo shrugged.

The family walked along and soon ran into the Forte family, after meeting and greeting, they then made their way to where the Thornberrys were staying.

"There's the Comvee!" Estelle pointed out, knowing that recreational vehicle anywhere.

"Then let's not waste any time." Akito said.

The kids ran ahead. Simon got out of his mother's grip and started to follow after his sister and cousins.

"Simon's grown up so fast..." Mo noticed. "How old is he now?"

"Just turned three not too long ago," Cherry informed. "I think he's going to be home educated like his sister... Every preschool I go to for an interview is too afraid to even enroll him. I can't imagine why."

"Same here." Forte said.

There was a girl with a chimp. The girl had ginger hair tied into twin braids, wore glasses, appeared to have braces, and wore a short-sleeved shirt with shorts, white socks, and brown shoes. She was with a gray chimp that had a white and blue striped tank top with blue shorts. Larvitar, Vulpix, Teddyursa, and Misdreavus came out of their pokeballs while their trainers were running.

"Eliza!" the chimp spoke up to the girl, having a British accent. "Savages!"

The girl looked and took out her father's binoculars to take a closer look and chuckled. "Those aren't savages, those are kids..." 

"What are a bunch of kids doing out here in the middle of the jungle?" the chimp folded his arms. "Why can't you humans keep each other on leashes? It'll keep you all from getting lost!"

"Oh, Darwin, will you calm down we don't always get lost." Eliza told the chimp.

"Hmph..." the chimp folded his arms a little.

Eliza decided to come a little closer as the kids ran. Since the kids saw her, they decided to stop right in front of her and relaxed themselves.

"What's the rush, guys?" Eliza chuckled, doing her very best to be social since she rarely got to meet other humans that were kids like her.

"Sorry, it's just that we are so excited to meet you and your family." Estelle said.

"I guess you watch Dad's nature show." Eliza said to them.

"Yeah, we usually do, Mom's idea since we're home-schooled..." Akito said.

"Not that we wouldn't want to be your friends though..." Estelle spoke up to show they weren't just wanting to be her friends because of that, but because of the person she was on the inside.

"Your father has a nature show?" Felicity asked.

"Yeah, haven't you heard of him?" Eliza asked. "Nigel Thornberry? He's on TV all the time..."

"Oh... We don't have a TV." Felicity explained.

"Really?" The chimp asked.

"Oui..." Felicity nodded to him.

"Kinda sad, I guess..." Vincent shrugged.

"Oh, very well, different strokes for different folks," the chimp shrugged himself, then realized what had just happened. "You guys can understand me?"

"You guys can talk to animals?" Eliza asked in a hushed tone so her family would not hear them.

"Yeah, our parents could and so can we," Akito explained. "Can you?"

"Umm..." Eliza stammered, she wasn't sure if she could tell them or not, remembering her promise.

"You can talk to animals ,can't you?" Estelle asked, somehow knowing.

"Um, well....." Eliza stammered still.

"Eliza, is someone else there?" a female voice called. "I hear other voices."

"Um, it's our guests, Mom!" Eliza called back. 

A blonde woman came out and smiled to them. "Hello there, oh, but where are your parents?" she asked.

Simon pointed to the far back as the adults were still coming into their direction.

"Oh, there they are." Marianne said.

"Here we go..." Felicity sighed. "The boring adult meeting..."

"Tell me about it..." Eliza mumbled a little.

"Why don't you kids go mingle while I meet your parents?" Marianne suggested. 

The kids smiled and walked off together in their own space.

"So, Eliza, can you talk to animals?" Vincent asked the red-haired girl. "It's okay if you tell us..."

"No, Eliza, don't!" The chimp told her. "Remember your promise to the shaman..."

"I know..." Eliza whispered to him.

It looked like the Fudo siblings weren't going to be told the truth.

"Oh, Debbie, dearest, come out!" the man of the Thornberry family came out, noticing the guest arrivals. "We have company!" 

A hyperactive boy with frizzy brown hair in leopard spotted shorts babbled and rushed out, running around, acting more hyper than a normal child would.

"Is your son okay...?" Cherry asked, a little disturbed. "I'd lay off on the sugar..."

"Oh, Donnie isn't our son, he's our adoptive son." Marianne told her

"Eliza, we promise that we won't tell anyone if you tell us." Vincent whispered.

"I'm sorry..." Eliza said to them. "I just can't tell anybody..."

There was then a trumpet heard.

"What was that?" Felicity shivered slightly, not used to the noise.

Simon looked up and pointed to the source of the noise. "Éléphant."

"Yeah, that sounds like an elephant." Akito nodded.

"Phaedra!" Eliza called with a smile as she rushed over.

"Oh, great..." Darwin mumbled a little.

The kids then followed after Eliza and Darwin to meet the elephant. The elephant looked to Eliza and wrapped her trunk around her with a smile.

"Wow, an actual elephant and not just in the zoo." Akito smiled.

The elephant then wrapped Eliza in her trunk and carried her on her back.

"Whoa, I have never ridden an éléphant before..." Felicity said as she was carried up with the others.

"Me neither." Vincent said.

Phaedra smiled as she allowed the others to ride on her, then smiled and went off with them.

"Hang on tight, guys." Eliza smiled to her new friends.

"You got it." Estelle said.

Phaedra smiled and carried them all carefully on her back as she was showing them around the African grounds, but not too far away from the Comvee, separating them from their parents.

"So, Eliza, is anyone else in your family with you?" Akito asked.

"My grandparents are visiting, my grandmother's inside, she doesn't seem to be the nature lover like Dad though." Eliza said with a small shrug.

"Really?" Estelle asked. "Why isn't she a nature lover?"

"Let me guess, she's more of high-class person than a nature person, right?" Akito guessed with his detective skills.

"Oh, you know it..." Eliza agreed with Akito. "I love her very much, but she's so stuck-up sometimes..."

"My mother does not like many things either..." Felicity input. "It can be very hard to please her."

"Your mother doesn't hurt you, does she?" Eliza asked in concern.

"Oh, no, Maman would never hurt her own family, but... Sometimes I wonder if she even does love me sometimes..." Felicity sighed a little.

"Of course Aunt Cherry loves you, Felicity." Estelle told her.

"Hmm..." Felicity sounded distant a little.

"Have you guys ever seen cheetahs up close?" Eliza asked them.

"Not really," Akito replied, excitedly, he had a feeling what was coming. "Why?"

"Would you like to meet one and her cubs?" Eliza smiled back. 

The kids looked to each other and agreed. Eliza then made the elephant stop and they gently lowered themselves and Eliza and Darwin led them to the other side of the outback.

"That was so awesome!" Akito cheered.

Eliza giggled, glad she could entertain them. Felicity carried Simon gently as she ran with the others to meet this cheetah.

In an outback, there were two cubs wrestling each other playfully. Eliza dropped down from the height with her new friends and rushed to the cubs who seemed to had already known her.

"This is so exciting." Estelle said.

The cubs hugged Eliza and looked curious to her new human friends.

"Oh, these are my new friends." Eliza introduced.

Each of the kids gave their names for the cubs.

"And this is Simon." Felicity spoke for her younger brother.

Simon gave a small, stoic wave, not smiling once.

"Hey, where's Tally?" Eliza whispered to the cubs. 

There then came another cheetah cub who was rushing over to see Eliza as well.

"Here I am," Tally said as soon as he got to her. "Did you see me? I can run really fast now." 

"Fast?" Darwin groaned slightly as he caught up with the others. "As in, able to outrun defenseless chimps?" he then slipped, slid, and fell down right next to the kids and the cheetah cubs.

"You guys remember Darwin." Eliza smiled as her best friend came to them.

Darwin gave a small and weak wave from his fall.

"Hey, you guys wanna have a race?" Akito asked the cheetah cubs. "I'm pretty fast for a human."

"Race a human?" the cubs looked to Akito strangely.

"Children," an adult female cheetah came for her cubs, though frightened poor Darwin by her entrance. "It's time for dinner."

"Not me, I'm all skin and bones." Darwin said while hiding behind Eliza.

"Mom! Eliza's new friend wants us to race." Tally told his mother with a smile.

"No," the cheetah mother declined. "The Plains are too dangerous for little ones like you."

"Ma'am, we'll be right with them," Vincent promised. "We swear."

The cheetah mother looked to him. "You talk to animals, I see..."

"We all can." Estelle nodded.

"I can if I have this..." Felicity showed her special necklace given to her from Rafiki.

"We won't let anything happen..." Estelle knelt beside the cubs, comforting them like she did with all creatures due to her healing powers. "You can trust us, Miss."

The cubs begged their mother to change her mind.

"Alright." The cheetah mother sighed, giving in.

The kids and cubs then ran off happily.

"But keep an eye on them!" the cheetah mother warned. "And don't go beyond the Acacia Tree!"


	4. Chapter 4

The kids and cubs climbed up as it was slowly getting dark and they were going to have their race. Akito was set to race with the cubs, once they all got together, they instantly ran to have their race.

"Hey, slowpokes, I'm winning!" Akito called to the cubs with a laugh.

"Who you calling 'slowpoke'?!" Tally called out to him with a laugh.

"Yeah and don't forget about us!" Eliza called out to him with a laugh.

Akito laughed as he raced with them and made it to their 'finish line'. "I won!"

The cubs caught up, still laughing and having fun with him.

"I've never seen a human run that fast before," Tally said, admiring Akito's speed. "You must be a superhero or something."

"Yeah, I kind of am." Akito shrugged.

"Akito, Eliza, Estelle, Vincent, and Felicity, you and the cubs and the Pokemon passed the Acacia tree!" Darwin warned them.

"Only barely..." Felicity shrugged. "Besides, we are all fine."

"Don't worry, we'll be fine." Eliza added as they continued to play with the cubs.

There was suddenly a gunshot heard, which startled them all.

"What was that...?" Felicity sounded scared all of the sudden.

"POACHERS!" Nigel cried as he was filming with Marianne, but they were interrupted from the gunshot.

"Oh, no, that sounds like it was close." Estelle said.

A helicopter was heard and was making its way toward them.

"RUN!" Eliza cried as the helicopter was coming near their direction.

The kids, chimp, and cheetah cubs all ran as fast as they could, this time for their lives and not a friendly competition. Tally seemed to be slower than the others though, due to recently growing, unlike his siblings. The light from the helicopter seemed to now stop, showing Tally, Larvitar, Vulpix, and Misdreavus. The Pokemon and cheetah cub did their best to evade the helicopter, which was a lot harder now that they were the main focus.

The light stopped, which stunned them and the helicopter lowered to take them away. Eliza, Felicity, Akito, and Vincent gasped once they saw what happened and they ran right back over as their nonhuman friends cried for them. A figure grabbed the Pokemon and the cheetah cub and carried them off as the helicopter rode off with it.

"Eliza!" Tally cried out.

"Felicity!" Misreavus cried out.

"Mama!" Teddyursa cried out to Estelle.

"Papa!" Vulpix cried out to Vincent.

"Papa!" Larvitar cried out to Akito.

The cheetah mother emerged from the grass and she saw what was happening, much to her horror, one of her cubs was being snatched away by a poacher. The five kids tried to clung to them to save them, being dragged with the helicopter. The poacher shoved them down flat on the ground as they went off with the animal and Pokemon creatures. The cheetah mother then tried to do the same, only to be knocked off as well. Eliza, Estelle, and Akito went off and grabbed onto the rope ladder for dear life.

"Guys!" Felicity cried for them, worried about what might happen to them.

"Oh, oh, Flick, Simon..." Cherry rushed over and held her two children. "Thank goodness you're safe... Where are Akito and Estelle?"

Simon pointed up to the helicopter as the twins held onto the rope ladder with Eliza. Nigel and Marianne both were in shock as were Atticus and Mo when they saw Eliza, Akito, and Estelle hang on for dear life on the rope ladder attached to the helicopter.

"Give them back!" Eliza, Akito, and Estelle demanded as the poacher climbed higher with the innocent creatures.

The helicopter light shined on them all in the eyes, purposely to blind them and make them let go.

"Deborah, we need to you to bring the Comvee straightaway immediately!" Nigel called to his elder daughter through a walkie-talkie.

"Dad, I can't, I'm kinda grounded, remember?" the cynical teenager replied.

"Debbie, now." Marianne firmly added, making her come straight over.

"They are just babies!" Estelle screamed out to the poacher. "While Misdreavus is just a kid!"

Debbie drove the Comvee with her grandmother and younger brother, struggling in the process, but managed to drive by the helicopter. Akito and Estelle climbed further while Eliza had a little trouble, not being as well experienced in adventures as her new friends were. The poacher glared to the three kids, they took out a knife and cut at the rope ladder to make them all fall.

"Oh, no, he cut the rope!" Estelle exclaimed.

The rope snapped, and the three kids fell, panicking their parents instantly, but luckily, they safely landed on the roof of the Comvee that had an inflatable cushion for them. The helicopter had gotten away, but at least Akito, Estelle, and Eliza were safe at last. The cheetah mother was devastated as she was the only parent to not be reunited with her child.

"Maman, make that thing come back!" Felicity exclaimed, pointing to the escaping helicopter.

"I'm afraid this is something Mama can't fix..." Cherry said as she held her daughter firmly and securely.

"Then we have to go after it to make it give back Tally, Larvitar, Vulpix, Teddyursa, and Midreavus!" Felicity told her mother.

"Now, now, let's go back..." Cherry said as she put Felicity to her feet.

"Maman!" Felicity whined, stomping her foot firmly.

Cherry glared back to her slightly. "Don't talk back to me!"

"Sorry, Maman..." Felicity whispered out of fear now.

"No, she has a right to talk back because that helicopter just flew off with the poachers, Tally, and our Pokemon!" Vincent glared.


	5. Chapter 5

They went back to the Thornberrys' campsite to talk about this a little more.

"We can't just sit here!" Eliza started to protest like her friends. "Mom, we have to find those poachers!"

"You poor things were almost killed," Marianne said to the kids. "You have to let Jomo take care of them."

"We have to save them, especially Tally!" Estelle folded her arms slightly.

"Who?" Marianne questioned.

"That's what we called the cheetah cub." Eliza covered up.

"We also have to save Larvitar, Vulpix, and Misdreavus!" Akito told her.

"They name man-eating wild animals and a bunch of strange creatures?" Nigel's mother questioned.

"Names them, plays with them, talks in Monkey to them," Debbie droned as she read one of her magazines in the distance. "Pretty sure those weird kids do too."

"Debbie, enough." Marianne scolded.

"Could you kids identify this man?" Jomo asked them about the poacher. 

"No, he shot a light in our eyes," Akito told him before remembering something. "But his knife the handle it was in the shape of the head of a falcon, that'll help you find him, won't it?"

"There are many knives..." Jomo said to them. "Many poachers..."

"But we have to find them!" Felicity urged the man.

"Children, leave this to us," Jomo coaxed. "Promise me that neither one of you will go off alone at night."

The kids looked to him and gave in. "We promise." they said together.

"Nigel, I will call if I hear anything." Jomo told his friend.

"Mind if I help you?" Atticus offered. "I am a detective after all." 

"Thank you, Mr. Fudo, we shall need all the help we can get." Jomo said.

"Be careful..." Mo warned her husband.

"Aren't I always?" Atticus chuckled to her. 

"Good night all." Jomo waved to the families.

"Thank you, Jomo." Nigel shook hands with his oldest friend.

"Children, we do not any of you wondering off alone at night." Marianne told them.

"Especially in the jungle..." Forte added as he looked all around their surroundings in the Savanna.

"Yeah, right," Debbie scoffed again. "Eliza and the monkey are always sneaking off."

This made the Thornberry adults look firmly to the younger girl, they had not known about that.

"Debbie!" Eliza whined to her sister.

"Hey, I've covered long enough," Debbie glared back. "Do you know she once fed one of my protein bars to a komodo dragon? And back in wherever that land was, she rode a Siberian tiger... Oh, oh, and ask her about the time that she was dancing with a bunch of crazy dingoes." 

"Eliza!" Nigel said, shocked.

"And that's not the only crazy things she's done." Debbie said.

"Thanks a lot, Deb." Eliza glared back at her sister as she was in trouble now.

The others were surprised and amazed of what Eliza had been through however.

"Nigel, I... I don't know what to do..." Marianne sounded shocked and worried about Eliza's life with them now due to them traveling all over the world and this is what Eliza did with her free time.

"Well, I do," Nigel's mother spoke up. "It is perfectly obvious that Elizabeth has no regard for her own safety and that of others around her now. We have discussed this for years. She needs to be in a structured environment, one such as a boarding school back in London."

"And just how do you propose to do that, Lady Thornberry?" Cherry muttered as she swished her drink in her glass before taking a sip.

"Oh, hold on," Debbie interrupted and stormed over. "She messes up and she gets to go to a boarding school?" 

"If Eliza is sent to boarding school, then I'm going with her." Estelle said, protecting her new friend.

"Me too also." Felicity volunteered herself.

"Oh, Mumsy, that's rather drastic..." Nigel said to his mother.

"Nigel, need I remind you that it was in the confines of boarding school that you received your education, not here in the wild?" Nigel's mother looked back to him. "Surely you don't think it's civilized for a girl to play with cheetahs, chimpanzees, and those Pocket Monster things?"

Debbie got onto a table and started to act like a monkey so she could go to boarding school as well. "What about me?" she asked her grandmother desparately. "Do I look civilized?"

"Sure, for an insane asylum..." Cherry dryly replied to her. 

"Frankly no, but for you I'm afraid it's rather too late." Nigel's mother said, blankly.

Debbie groaned in defeat as her grandmother went back inside the Comvee.

"Mom, Dad, I can't leave," Eliza said to her parents sadly. "Tally never would've been out on the Plains if it wasn't for me... It's all my fault."

"Eliza, how could it be your fault?" Marianne asked, not understanding.

"But we have to go back out there!" Eliza cried.

"No! We make these rules for a reason, Eliza, and if I have to send you away to be safe, I will." Marianne said sadly.

"Dad..." Eliza looked sadly to her father, he was her last hope. "Please..."

Nigel looked sadly to her, he wanted to help her, but he couldn't. " Poppet, your intentions are noble, but you're just too young... Your friends are too and they could get hurt..." he said in the most gentle voice he could. He then gave her a firm and gentle hug. "I'm sorry."

"Are you guys really gonna go to boarding school?" Vincent asked his sister and female cousin. 

"I am, but Felicity, you stay here with Aunt Cherry and the others, so then, you don't have to be away from her again." Estelle said.

"But I want to help too..." Felicity frowned.

Estelle frowned to her. "Well... Okay, if you think you can do it."

"Sil vous plait, let me..." Felicity put her hands together. 

"Well, alright." Estelle said.

"If that's what you want, Flick, then you can *hic!* go for it..." Cherry nearly mumbled as she poured herself another glass.

"I think you've had enough..." Forte put his hands over her arms.

Cherry whined like a child, shaking him off and continued to pour a glass and gulped it down. Simon walked over to his sister.

"Um... Bonjour, Simon..." Felicity greeted nervously.

Simon actually looked sad that she was going to go to boarding school and gave her a hug around her legs.

"Oh, Simon..." Felicity was surprised at the hug. 

"He will miss you while you're gone." Estelle said.

"Oh, I will be missing you too, Simon..." Felicity hugged him.

Simon was sincere about the hug and didn't even pull out a dagger to stab her in the back with.

Felicity then handed Simon back to Cherry and they shared a group hug.

"Mommy loves you both..." Cherry said slurry to her children as she drank another glass and let out another hiccup.


	6. Chapter 6

That night, everyone headed to bed, still thinking about what had happened tonight. Estelle slept outside as Eliza and Darwin were going to sleep in a tent. Eliza was telling Darwin what happened and was going to happen by tomorrow.

"Boarding School?" Darwin nearly scoffed. "I never heard of anything so ridiculous!"

"I just hope it'll be better than Hawthorne Prep." Estelle muttered slightly.

"I wish I could just tell them I can talk to animals." Eliza said.

"No!" Darwin protested. "Then you'll lose your--"

Estelle looked to them, curiously.

"It's okay, Darwin, I guess it's okay since she can talk to animals too." Eliza said to the chimp since her secret had been revealed.

"You mean, your family doesn't know?" Estelle asked in slight shock. 

"No." Eliza said.

"How long have you had this ability?" Estelle asked.

"A long time now," Eliza explained. "You see... One day when I was with my parents, I found this warthog that was trapped. Being kind and gentle, I decided to save him, but I then found out that this warthog was actually a shaman. After that, between you and me, something amazing happened and now I can talk to animals, but it's totally secret and I'm not supposed to tell anyone, not even my family." 

"So, if you tell anyone that doesn't know, then your ability to talk to animals will be taken away from you?" Estelle asked.

Eliza nodded. "I'm sorry, that's why I didn't think I could tell you, your cousins, or your brothers... How do you talk to animals?" she then asked.

"I guess because Mom and Dad can," Estelle shrugged. "My Grandma Emily can talk to animals too, though mostly to sea creatures since she's a mermaid."

"Your grandmother is a mermaid?" Eliza asked, not believing that at first. 

"Yep." Estelle nodded. 

"Interesting..." Darwin said to her. "I didn't think those things were real."

"Better believe it, buster, great-niece of King Triton of Atlantica at your service." Estelle smiled proudly, though not too boastful.

"I won't break the rule for anyone else though," Eliza continued. "I promised Shaman Mnyambo."

"Good," Darwin could relax now. "Now about this 'Boarding School'... You dont' think they'll make me take gym class, do you? Because those tight shorts show off my problem area." 

"Ooh, um, about that, Darwin, you see...." Estelle said.

"You can't come with us." Eliza and Estelle said in unison.

Darwin's eyes widened and he threw a big fuss over being separated from Eliza since she was the only one in this family he could talk to.

"Darwin, come back!" Eliza called sadly.

Nigel and Mo came out, looking to the girls in their tent.

"Whatever is the matter with Darwin?" Nigel frowned.

"He saw Eliza pack her suitcase," Estelle covered up this time. "I guess he figured out she's leaving." 

"Very intuitive that chimp." Mo said.

"We're so sorry about this, Dad/Mom." Eliza and Estelle frowned.

"Well, I can't speak for Mr. Thornberry, but I'd actually do the same thing," Mo said, mostly to her own daughter. "I mean, if Angel were taken from me, I'd do anything to get her back."

"Well, as a matter of fact, I went up against poachers myself once to save an elephant," Nigel added in. "Remember?" he then smiled to Eliza.

"I remember." Eliza smiled back and hugged him.

"You were always so protective of Angel." Estelle smiled to her mother, hugging her as well.

"Hey, Angel was my baby before I had you all." Mo chuckled. 

"That is true." Estelle nodded.

"Come, I want to show you all something." Nigel said.

Estelle looked to her mother.

Mo nodded and allowed her to go, deciding to follow with her.

"What's this, Mr. Thornberry?" Estelle asked.

"It's our next location," Nigel informed. "We're going to Congo."

"To look for forest elephants?" Eliza assumed.

"Yes, if we can find any," Nigel replied before explaining with his computer. "You see, there's an old Bakaa legend that tells of a solar eclipse, when thousands of elephants made their way to Timbo Valley." 

"Wow, I wonder why." Eliza and Estelle wondered.

"Nobody knows," Nigel said before closing his computer. "But there's an eclipse in a few weeks in this exact spot, and I intend to witness it firsthand."

Eliza frowned. "I wish I could see it with you, Dad..."

"Same here..." Estelle frowned.

Mo hugged her daughter gently, also stroking her hair and back.

"Girls," Nigel reached into his robe pocket and showed them an award given to him. "I received this medal when I was in Boarding School about your age. Perhaps you would like to take it..." he put the chain around his daughter's neck. "For luck."

Eliza read the medal. "'Awarded for Bravery'?" 

"I know it's not big, fancy, or shiny, but..." Mo said to Estelle as she put her hands behind her head and untied her trademark red bandanna, then gave it to Estelle. "Why don't you take this for yourself?"

"Oh, Mom, I couldn't..." Estelle replied apologetically.

"I insist, I consider it to be lucky," Mo insisted. "It was the last present ever given to me by my biological parents and I trust you to hold onto it for me." 

"Thank you, Mom." Estelle smiled.

Mo hugged her daughter nice and tight then.

"Everybody has challenges of their own," Nigel said comfortingly. "And I predict you children will meet them splendidly."

Felicity watched the touching parent child moment outside and sighed a little sadly while Simon was fast asleep, snoring weakly next to her. And where she smiled sweetly at him and didn't want to let her baby brother to be sad.

Forte came to check on her. "You still awake?"

Felicity sadly nodded.

Forte came to her side and sat down next to her. "You don't have to go to Boarding School with Elizabeth and Estelle if you don't want to..." he said to her gently. 

"Papa, I want to help my friends and family..." Felicity insisted. 

"Well then, why don't you help us find the poachers and also help Debbie with Donnie?" Forte said.

"Papa, I want this..." Felicity insisted.

"Okay, Flick..." Forte hugged her gently. "If it's what you want, you can... I'm just worried it might be too much for you... Your maman and I didn't put you in school for a reason with your social anxiety, especially since you grew up in the 18th century."

"Maman blames you for me being out touch with reality." Felicity said as she tugged on her hair slightly.

"How does she blame me?" Forte asked.

"You raised me while she was held captive..." Felicity reminded him.

Forte sighed and shook his head. "Never listen to your mother... Especially when she drinks her... Erm... 'Juice'..."

"What does the juice do to Maman anyway?" Felicity asked as he tucked her in.

"I'll tell you when you're old--" Forte replied, but stopped himself once he realized what he was about to say. "Um... Let's save that for another day, shall we?"

"Okay, Papa..." Felicity whispered. "Bon nuit, Papa..."

Forte gently stroked her forehead. "Good night, Flick..."


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, Eliza, Estelle, and Felicity all got packed for their trip to London, England. The adults stood as there was a small jet plane going to take them to England, provided by Eliza's grandmother as their pilot. Cherry stood with sunglasses over her eyes.

"We looked everywhere, but couldn't find Darwin anywhere." Estelle frowned.

"We didn't even get to say goodbye." Eliza frowned.

"It'll be okay..." Akito said as he hugged his sister. "If we see him, we'll tell him for you." 

"That's right." Vincent said as he joined in the hug.

Estelle frowned and hugged her brothers, taking small and deep breaths.

"We'll also see if Dad's found anything with Jomo." Vincent then added. 

"You can call her from her new school." Mo added in support. 

"We know." the Fudo siblings said.

Marianne and Nigel hugged their younger daughter, giving their tokens of affection.

"Be good..." Cherry mumbled to Felicity. "Stay out of trouble... Don't talk to strangers..."

Felicity hugged her mother's waist. "I love you, Maman..."

"Yeah,... I love you too..." Cherry muttered, she was in a little bit of a rotten mood due to her drinks last night. 

"So, is Debbie going to say goodbye?" Estelle asked.

"I heard my name," Debbie came to the three girls, carrying a piece of paper in her hands. "Here's what I need you to get me in London," she then showed them the paper as she walked them to the jet plane. "CD's, boots, T-Shirts, basically, anything cool.."

Eliza glumly took the list. Debbie actually looked sad and decided to hug her younger sister since it would be a while until they would see each other again. Cherry actually looked a little sad and jealous of the tender sisterly moment.

"Don't forget," Debbie advised the younger girls. "Cool."

"Girls!" Nigel's mother called once she was set up. "It's time for take-off." 

"Yes, ma'am, we're coming." Estelle frowned.

Nigel, Mo, and Forte decided to walk their daughters to the plane. Nigel's mother lowered her goggles as she was ready and anxious to fly them to their new 'home' until the holidays. Even though Donnie did not understand most things around him, he seemed a little sad to see one of his 'big sisters' going away. Nigel held Marianne, Mo held Akito and Vincent, Cherry actually surprised Forte and clung to her husband, bawling endlessly, allowing him to hold her and gently pat her on the back. Simon watched the jet plane took off and a tear rolled down his cheek. 

'Don't worry, we'll be back soon.' Estelle thought to herself.

The three girls then looked to each other and shared a hug as they were now leaving East Africa and going straight into London. 

'I just know that we won't like the first few seconds there.' Estelle thought to herself.

After landing to London, enrollment, and a few phone calls, Eliza, Estelle, and Felicity were now going to join Lady Beatrice's Boarding School and they were forced into uniforms. They wore red jackets, plaid skirts, white knee socks, black dress shoes, straw hats, and had black ties. Eliza had her pigtails worn down like Felicity and Estelle kept her mother's bandanna in her breast pocket as they walked with their luggage. The other girls seemed to stare at Eliza more than they did to Estelle or Felicity as they walked onto the school grounds. 

'Okay, this isn't so bad... Kind of...' Estelle thought to herself.

"Everybody is staring at us..." Felicity whispered insecurely.

Eliza struggled with her bag, it got caught onto a small hole and she tried to pull it, but fell right onto the ground, making the other girls laugh at her.

"Oh, Eliza!" Estelle helped her up. 

A bell rang and the other girls left them.

"You okay?" Estelle asked after helping Eliza to her feet. 

"Yeah, I'm alright, I just hope we get to be room-mates." Eliza said.

"What is a room-mate?" Felicity asked.

"That's when someone stays in a room with you, sometimes you become friends, sometimes you don't..." Estelle explained. 

"I guess that at least we won't be lonely..." Felicity shrugged.

"I don't remember packing so much stuff..." Eliza said as she looked to her bag. "Seems heavier than it did last night." 

"Yeah." Estelle said.

The girls went into an office.

"Names?" a man asked them at his desk.

"Elizabeth Thornberry, Estelle Fudo, and Felicity Precious Chantal Forte." the girls gave their names. 

"Ah, yes, the new ones..." the man nodded. "Oh, Elizabeth Thornberry, huh? Your grandmother Cordelia has spoken highly of you and you two girls she's said that you two are new friends of hers." The man said.

"That is correct, sir." Felicity nodded to confirm that.

"Unfortunately, only two girls per room," the man replied. "I'm really sorry, girls, but I'm afraid you'll be split up at bedtime and curfew."

A lady then whispered something to him which made him widen his eyes.

"Um, it should seem it's now three girls per room, but still unfortunately, one of you will not be with the other two." The man told them.

"What do you mean?" Eliza asked, a little confused at his choice of words. 

"Eliza Thornberry, you and Estelle Fudo will be sharing a room with one of the other girls, her name is Sarah Wellington." The man said.

"Yes, sir..." Estelle and Eliza agreed.

Felicity bit her lip, a little anxious about being away from her new friend and cousin. "Oui, Monsieur..." she then agreed, shakily.

"Oh, a French girl, are you?" the man sounded charmed. 

"Oui..." Felicity nodded again. "I was raised in a French household until my mother came back." 

"That is interesting to know." The man said.

"Good luck, Felicity..." Estelle and Eliza whispered.

Felicity sighed a little and went to find her new room and room-mate. Estelle and Eliza went the other way.

"Hey, you're one of those new girls, aren't you?" a girl with shoulder length dark brown hair with a blue bow in her hair greeted.

"Um... Oui, I am..." Felicity stammered, trying to remember her social skills that her parents had taught her. 

"I'm Arlene St. Clair." the girl shook her hand.

"Felicity Forte." the girl gave her name, trying to remain calm and confident. 

"Pleased to meet you, Felicity." Arlene said.

Felicity smiled, she was hoping this girl would become her friend.

"Oh, you simply must sit with me, Muffy, and Sarah for supper!" Arlene invited. "It would be divine!"

"Uh... Okay..." Felicity smiled bashfully. "Is Muffy your room-mate...?" she then asked, frowning a little, thinking maybe she got her hopes up that the first friend she made on her own would not be in the same room with her. 

"You're our third room-mate." Arlene said.

"Oh..." Felicity smiled, a little more hopeful this time.

While this was going on, Eliza and Estelle went into their room. Eliza sighed as she made it to the room first and set her bag down on the bed she had wanted. Estelle sat on her new bed and took out a few things already, remembering how she was taught how to unpack. Eliza's bag was shaking and appeared to be making strange noises. 

"Huh?" Estelle asked, noticing the bag moving. "Eliza, did you bring something else with you?"

"I don't think so..." Eliza looked curious, she then unzipped her bag to reveal a very familiar animal had come along.

"Oh," Estelle giggled to Darwin. "A stowaway." 

"Darwin!" Eliza laughed and cheered to see her best animal friend.

"You didn't think I'd let you get civilized without me, did you?" Darwin smiled to the girls. 

"Oh, Darwin, it's so wonderful to see you." Estelle said before realizing that he was there.

Eliza suddenly gasped in horror. "You can't be here!"

"Yes, it's a miracle, I survived the baggage hold," Darwin smiled, not noticing her fear as she went to the door and locked it. "You both should know your bags are not handled with care." he then pulled a sock off his paw.

"Darwin, we've been through this," Estelle said to him. "They don't allow chimps in school. Especially boy ones."

"Oh, they'll change their mind when they meet me," Darwin insisted. "Now, let's take a look at my new home." 

"Darwin, please hide before someone sees you." Estelle begged, even though the chimp wasn't listening while looking around.

"Oh, dibs on this bed!" Darwin went to the bed next to the window that had fancy satin sheets on them and started to happily jump on it.

The door knob was jiggling, unable to be opened due to it being locked.

"Oh, no, someone's coming!" Eliza gasped.

"Room service?" Darwin asked hopefully. "I like school already!" 

"No, that must be our room-mate, quick, you have to hide." Estelle said while pushing the chimp to the window and then covering him with the curtains.

Eliza and Estelle had trouble hiding Darwin and even tried under their room-mate's bed, but settled for the wardrobe.

"Let me in!" a voice demanded.

As soon as Darwin was out of sight, Estelle and Eliza smiled innocently and nervously as soon as a girl with short dark blonde hair and pronounced front teeth came into the room, looking rather sour as she glared at the door for locking her out of the room. 

"I'm Eliza Thornberry." Eliza introduced herself.

"And I'm Estelle Fudo, guess the three of us are room-mates." Estelle said.

"So it appears..." the girl said, removing her hat and ignored shaking hands with them. "I'm Sarah Wellington..." she then looked to her now messy bed. "Has one of you been romping on my bed?"

"Oh, just trying out the springs," Eliza smiled nervously, rushing to it. "Firm, yet flexible."

"Perhaps we should take this opportunity to negotiate a few issues," Sarah folded her arms to them before opening the curtains. "You stay on your sides and I stay on mine. My things shall be off-limits as they are antique and rather expensive. This perfume is French..." she then took her perfume and sprayed herself with some. 

"Interesting to know." Estelle rolled her eyes.

"And don't even dream about wearing my clothes," Sarah continued, finding a shirt on her bed and tossed it over to them. "No matter how tempting the urge..." she then gasped. "I see that you've already rooted through my wardrobe." She was about to go to it.

Eliza thought of something quickly. "Sarah!" she then took out a tin container. "Want one of my mom's homemade peanut butter cookies?" 

"Or one of my mom's famous snicker doodles?" Estelle asked, taking out a tin container.

Sarah actually looked tempted and pleased with a smile. "I might have a use for you yet..." she opened Eliza's container though and found no cookies.

Eliza smiled sheepishly, Darwin must have eaten them.

Sarah opened Estelle's container though and found the snickerdoodles and enjoyed the one she tried. "Not bad..." she admitted. 

"Thank you, my mother is amazing when it comes to cooking and baking." Estelle smiled.

Meanwhile...

There was a girl with puffy blonde hair with a green headband arranging some things in one room.

"Muffy, this is our new room-mate," Arlene said as she walked into the room and introduced the new girl. "Her name is Felicity."

"Charmed..." Muffy smiled, shaking her hand. "I'm Muffy Watson."

Felicity smiled back. "I guess I will be okay in this educational place..."

Muffy and Arlene glanced to each other with how Felicity said certain things, but gave small polite smiles. 

"So, Felicity, where are you from?" Muffy asked.

"I am not exactly sure..." Felicity shrugged as she set her bag down to unpack. "I grew up in France a little while though."

"Oh, really?" Arlene asked in interest. 

"Oui..." Felicity smiled. "My English is not very good, but it is getting much better." 

"That's great to know." Muffy said.

"You're lucky to have become our friend," Arlene smiled. "We're a couple of the popular girls."

Felicity looked flattered. "P-P-Popular?" 

"Oh, yes," Muffy smiled. "We hang around Sarah Wellington all the time." 

"Sarah who?" Felicity asked.

"We'll introduce you after you unpack, just stuck with us." Muffy suggested.

"We'll be best friends forever." Arlene added with a smile.

Felicity smiled to them, things were going to be finally looking up for her.


	8. Chapter 8

School was not going well for Eliza and Estelle that much, they were behind a tree together as a group of squirrels came to see them. 

"We're glad we get to talk to you guys, you don't know how awful it's been." Estelle said to the squirrels.

"Go on, girls," one squirrel told them with a sympathetic ear. "Tell Reggie your troubles. Oh, um, before you do," he then climbed the tree next to them. "I don't suppose you have any of those cheesy snacks I fancy, eh?"

"Cheese Munchies?" Eliza took out a bag for him. "Right here."

"Brilliant," Reggie buried himself inside the bag in delight. "Now, what's the problem?" 

"Oh, we just miss our friends and family." Estelle said.

"Especially in Africa," Eliza added. "Oh, you should see it there, Reggie. I've even met some squirrels who can fly."

"Fly, like a bird?" one squirrel asked her like she was crazy.

"Don't like the sound of that." Reggie added, a little frightened. 

"Oh, don't worry, flying squirrels aren't dangerous." Estelle explained to him.

Muffy, Arlene, Felicity, and Sarah walked together and saw what was going on.

"I heard that Eliza's family lives in the jungle in a motor home." Arlene commented.

"And that she bathes where the animals drink." Muffy added pompously.

"Eww!" the girls pinched their noses and giggled as they walked off.

Felicity's happiness was fading the more she hung around these girls. They were nice to her, but not so nice about Eliza or Estelle, which made her feel bad as she walked with her 'new friends' and wondered if she should go back to her new friend and cousin or not.

"Next thing you know, one of them will bring an animal to my room." Sarah laughed, not aware how true that really was. 

And where Darwin was now wanting to see how the perfume worked. Estelle and Eliza had run out of food for the squirrels and said goodbye to them.

"Well, at least they seem nice..." Estelle shrugged with an innocent smile. 

"Yeah, they do seem nice." Eliza said.

Estelle then walked with Eliza after the squirrels took their leave, but promised to always be there if the girls would need them.

"Well, we better get inside." Estelle said.

"Looks like it's about to rain." Eliza agreed.

After classes, it did in fact rain, and the girls reported indoors for the rest of their day. Eliza was feeling extremely homesick, so she decided to give a call to home. Estelle decided to join her, since their parents were together after all.

"Honey, can you hear us?" Mo called, projecting a little due to the service being weird in other countries. 

"It's Mom!" Marianne told Eliza.

"And your dear old Dad!" Nigel added.

"And what was that, honey?!" Marianne and Mo called out.

"We said, has Jomo or Atticus/Dad found Tally, Larvitar, Vulpix, Teddyursa, and Misdreavus?!" Eliza and Estelle told their mothers.

"Sorry, girls, no," Nigel replied apologetically. "In fact, the poachers disappeared without a trace so cleverly that not even Estelle's father can track them down!"

"Oh, tell them about Darwin and Simon..." Mo whispered.

Marianne nodded in agreement.

"Yes, I was leading up to that," Nigel nodded to the women before bringing the phone back up to his ear. "Poodles, I'm afraid we've lost track of Darwin and Felicity's baby brother."

"Oh, Darwin will be all right," Eliza smiled innocently. "He's probably foraging for bugs and berries right now."

"Simon's missing?" Estelle asked in concern.

"His parents aren't sure where he could have run off to," Mo informed. "He was with us last night, but he's disappeared."

'Oh, no, I bet I know where he is.' Estelle thought to herself.

"Oh, don't worry about Simon, I bet he's just wandering off and just prowling through the woods, looking for his first victim." Estelle smiled nervously.

"That's what his mother said..." Marianne mumbled about what Estelle said about Simon, sending a glance to Cherry as she sat next to Debbie.

"Oh, girls, this shepherd's pie is heavenly!" Darwin was sitting on Sarah's bed, wearing a robe and a shower cap. "But why do they have to put these smushy green things in it? They look like bunny poop!"

"Sweetheart, is someone there?" Mo asked. "I hear another voice..."

"Oh, th-that's just our room-mate, Sarah," Estelle lied, she never did like lying, but she had to so Eliza wouldn't get into trouble. "Mom, please don't forget about Tally and our Pokemon."

"Please..." Eliza added so she could talk with her parents too.

"We won't, dears!" Mo told them.

"We left word with Jomo and Estelle's father where we were headed," Marianne added. "Now, try to have fun with your new friends, okay?"

"Theyr'e making friends!?" Debbie scowled and stormed over to the phone. "Give me that! Hi, here's what's going on with MY life... Donnie's now half-goat, my hair is half-terrier, and we're heading into the Abyss, where there is no hope of teen interaction! Goodbye!" she then hung up, accidentally tying her parents together with the phone cord.

"Debbie?" Estelle and Eliza cried as soon as they were hung up on rudely. "Mom?"

"Dad...?" Eliza asked sadly. "Donnie...?"

"Aunt Cherry?" Estelle added before they hung up the phone, feeling alone.

"You having the same idea of where Simon as I am?" Eliza asked after a while.

"I have a pretty good idea..." Estelle nodded.

"What kind of kid is he anyway?" Eliza asked. 

"He's 'special'..." Estelle shrugged. "Aunt Cherry once told us when she was pregnant with him that he was trying to carve a way out of her womb using a knife he made himself... I'm sure she was only kidding."

"Well, then we better hope that he doesn't try anything with any of the girls, such as try to kill any of them." Eliza said.

"Oh, I'm sure he won't... Or at least, I hope he doesn't." Estelle said nervously.

Eliza looked at the time, Sarah had not come back, so they spent the time to talk until it would be time for dinner since they did not have homework right now.

"So, Eliza, Donnie's your adoptive brother?" Estelle asked.

"Yeah," Eliza nodded. "We found Darwin and Donnie found us."

"So, where'd he come from?" Estelle asked.

"I don't really know, he just came out of nowhere." Eliza shrugged.

"Hmm... He must have been separated from his parents or something." Estelle said.

"Maybe next time I'm home, I can ask..." Eliza shrugged.

"Maybe..." Estelle nodded, a little hopeful for her.

It was still raining, but it was now dinner time after the girls talked a little more and they decided to get to the dining hall.

Felicity grabbed her tray, getting a serving of her evening meal as she walked with Arlene and Muffy yet again, Sarah was running a little late. She felt really guilty for befriending these girls and they made her one of them. She looked back to see her new friend and cousin were upset and glum as they sat together at a lonely table.

"Come on, Felicity," Muffy nudged the girl. "Why don't you have a go at the Thornberry and Fudo girls?"

Felicity didn't want to, but then she thought of something that might help Eliza and Estelle with their problem of making friends at the boarding school. Arlene and Muffy saw Felicity go off, so they followed her.

"I cannot believe you guys," Felicity stood up to her new friends a little, trying more to be like her mother. "They are new here like I am, and they feel miserable enough already and they do not need you guys making it worse... They probably are depressed because of you..."

Arlene and Muffy looked to her and frowned, feeling guilty now.

"Felicity, we're sorry," Arlene spoke up first. "We gave into peer pressure from Sarah. She comes from a very high-class family and rules the school... If you know what I mean."

"We're truly sorry," Muffy added. "Please don't be angry with us."

Felicity glowered at them, but her expression softened once she saw that they were indeed sorry and sincere, she smiled at them. "Come on, let us go see them." she then walked over to Eliza and Estelle with her new friends.

"Can we at least ask them both a question for them both?" Muffy asked.

Felicity shrugged with a smile. Arlene and Muffy came to Felicity's sides as they walked to the lonesome table of the dining hall.

"Elizabeth, tell us, have you ever seen a tiger up close?" Felicity asked.

"Close enough to pet..." Eliza smiled a little, revealing her braces.

"Oh, really?" Arlene asked with interest.

"Tigers, bears, komodo dragons," Eliza listed her experiences due to her parents' jobs. "Once, when we were in the Arctic, I hung out with this polar bear."

"Wow, that's so amazing." Muffy said before joining them.

This made several of the other girls go to join Eliza and Estelle.

"And what of you, Estelle?" Arlene asked the brunette girl. "What sort of adventures do you have?"

Estelle began to tell them all about all the adventures that she's had by herself and with her brothers and cousins and friends. Felicity smiled as her little plan worked and almost all of the girls circled around Eliza and Estelle. Sarah looked very angry and jealous, then stormed over to the table as Estelle told one of her adventure stories, the one about how she met Prince Eric and Clara, becoming a Sugarplum Princess.

"Sarah, Eliza swam with the whales and Estelle became a Sugarplum Princess!" Arlene told the dark blonde-haired girl.

Sarah sat down and looked bored. "Isn't that lovely?" she muttered, not sounding sincere about her comment.

"Tell us more, girls." One of the girls insisted.

Darwin had found a uniform in order to blend in with the girls and was making his way to sit down with Eliza and Estelle and even caught their attention.

The girls looked down. "Darwin..." they whispered in shock and worry.

"I know," the cross-dressing chimp smiled to them, even wearing lipstick and gloves. "Don't I look fetching?"

"Oh, no, we have to make sure none of the girls see him." Estelle whispered.

Eliza chuckled nervously as the other school girls were anxious to hear more. "Uh, w-w-where was I?" she hid a potted plant in front of her animal best friend. "Oh, yeah, swimming with dingoes? I mean, dolphins!" 

Darwin started to eat nosily, but this caught everyone's attention, but they fell for his disguise.

"Who's that girl?" Arlene wondered.

"I've never seen her before." Muffy added.

"Is she one of your guys's friends?" one of the girls asked Estelle, Felicity, and Eliza.

"Uh... Yes, she's from the Orange Islands," Estelle lied. "She's just painfully shy."

Darwin reached for a crumpet.

"That's my monogram!" Sarah hissed once she saw one of her uniforms had been stolen and grabbed Darwin firmly. "Who are you and why are you wearing my new blazer?" She then removed the hat and gasped once she saw this was no human girl. "There's an ape in my uniform! Give it back!"

"Darwin is here?" Felicity got nervous.

Estelle chuckled nervously. "Sorry, cuz..."

Sarah and Darwin continued to pull on her blazer like a game of tug-of-war, causing for Darwin to fall back next to the crumpets. Darwin picked up one of the crumpets and hit it right at her, despite being protested against doing so. Sarah growled, she picked up a plate of mashed potatoes to throw at him. Darwin ducked down and it hit Arlene in the face.

"Food fight, everyone!" Arlene proposed with a laugh.

And where a huge food fight was started and where to Felicity's surprise, Simon had appeared and was joining in the fun.

"Simon!?" Felicity gaped at her brother.

Simon did battle cries as he threw food at the older girls, participating in his first and hopefully only food fight. The lady from before was now trying to calm down the girls and began telling them that food was for eating, but none of them were listening to her. Sarah tried to chase after Darwin, but she slid over the table while everyone buried her with food and Simon put a green apple in her mouth. Darwin was now hanging onto a chandelier.

"This is the most fun we've ever had." Arlene laughed while enjoying the food fight.

The woman, Mrs. Fairgood, had enough, and yelled out to the three new students. "MISS THORNBERRY, FUDO, AND FORTE!!!"

After the food fight, the girls were ordered to hit the showers to clean up their messes before bed.

"Well, at least this can't get worse." Estelle sighed.

"And as for your animal friend and baby brother/cousin/friend, I have something else for them." Mrs. Fairgood said.

Estelle gulped, feeling like she jinxed that.

After the mess was cleaned up, the girls were forced to the horse stables.

"Girls, your family will hear of this in the morning," Mrs. Fairgood said to them, taking stray food out of her graying hair. "And when we revive them, I'm sure they'll be gravely disappointed. Now, say goodbye to your loved ones and COME ALONG!"

'And I thought Maman was strict...' Felicity thought to herself as she held Simon's hand.

"Girls, don't leave me here, I won't last the night!" Darwin cried before looking at Simon and then a horse behind. "No offense, Simon and Thunder, is it? How's Killer and Horsey?"

The horse snorted while Simon glared, making up a decent enough bed chamber for himself.

"We'll come see you guys in the morning." Estelle promised. 

"Trot along, Lassies," Thunder told the girls with a small smile. "Your friend and brother will be fine with me."

"Thanks, Thunder." Eliza and Estelle smiled gratefully.

"Merci, Tonnerre." Felicity added, just as grateful.

"Miss Thornberry, Fudo, and Forte... Come along!" Mrs. Fairgood told them.

"Take good care of yourself..." Felicity told her brother before going with Estelle and Eliza back into school.

Mrs. Fairgood carried an umbrella to escort them back indoors.

While she did that, Darwin just slouched down, feeling like this was not the greatest place to be right now.

"I say, boy," Darwin looked over to the toddler killer. "Why would you stay out here when Mrs. Fairgood had a nice warm bed for you? We could've traded places!"

Simon glanced to Darwin, then continued to get himself set for bed.

"Well, I could use a hot bath and a good meal." Darwin pouted.

"You're in luck," Thunder smiled. "They'll be bringing the hay down any minute!"

"Me and the boy are to eat hay?!" Darwin asked the horse, not liking that choice of food.

"Yeah, and yummy oats from time to time too." Thunder smiled.

"Oh, that changes everything." Darwin said sarcastically.

Simon seemed to feel Darwin's pain, but he shook his head and rolled his eyes, then lay down in his makeshift bedding on a nice solid, though hints of hay covered, ground.

They both then heard someone fart and where it came from Thunder.

"We're beginning to see why they call you Thunder," Darwin said before using the French perfume to hopefully get rid of the stench. "Anyway, where's the bathroom?"

"You're standing on it!" Thunder firmly told him.

Darwin saw the ground sinking beneath him and he recoiled in horror and disgust.


	9. Chapter 9

Felicity was at the vanity in her room as she was combing her hair down and about to take out her pigtail buckles.

"Felicity, would you like to come with us?" Muffy asked as she stood with Arlene at the door.

"Yes, we were about to talk with Eliza and Estelle." Arlene added.

"Okay." Felicity smiled, she placed her brush down and went to join her new friends.

The three girls then went to Eliza and Estelle's room. On the way there, there were many other girls in there as well like there was a party.

"Did Mrs. Fairgood made them go to a zoo?" one girl asked about Darwin and Simon.

"Where did they sleep?" another girl asked.

"Tell us everything, girls." Muffy spoke up.

"Yes, however did you smuggle the chimp and little nipper in your suitcase?" Arlene added.

"Well, Darwin and Simon just... Well, it was easy, hiding them from Sarah, that's a different story." Estelle told them.

"Ooh, Miss Sarah Wellington thinks she's the bee's knees!" Muffy teased by pushing up her nose to expose her front teeth to mock Sarah.

"Why would you all come here where it's so boring?" Arlene asked their new friends.

Muffy grabbed one of Sarah's pillows to sit on while one girl took out a box of popcorn to eat to hear more of Eliza and Estelle's riveting tales.

"We got in trouble, we were in the Plains while there were poachers going out hunting some animals." Estelle explained.

This made the girls gasp in instant worry.

"What happened?" Arlene was literally on the edge of her seat. "Go on, you guys."

"I was with them," Felicity continued. "There were three cheetah cubs Eliza knew."

"Oh, but they weren't dangerous," Eliza added in quickly. "They were like kittens, only wild... Well, we were running all together, when we heard shots."

"Yeah, and all of us, including my Teddyursa, my twin brother Akito's Larvitar, and our older brother Vincent's Vulpix started to run to try and get away from them." Estelle added in.

"And a man dropped out of a helicopter on a ladder and grabbed the cheetah cub I named Tally, and their Pokemon," Eliza continued, feeling emotional as she told more and more of the story. "We tried to save them, but they cut the ladder and... We fell... Tally, Teddyursa, Lavitar, Vulpix, and Felicity's Pokemon were gone."

"Poor dears." Arlene cooed.

"We're sure they're still alive though," Estelle spoke up again. "We can just feel it."

Felicity and Eliza nodded in agreement.

"This is terrible!" Muffy stood straight up. "Can't we write letters or something?"

"Let's have a bake sale." Arlene suggested.

"Yes, let's!" a girl with braids liked the sound of that.

"Let us help!" Arlene begged.

"We're sorry girls, but..." Estelle said before the door opened.

Everyone turned to see the rotten girl in her raincoat with an umbrella and a sour look on her face as always.

"What's going on in my room and why wasn't I invited?" Sarah demanded.

"Sarah," Arlene sadly walked over to her, being the nicest and the most tender out of all of the girls in the boarding school. "Eliza, Estelle, and Felicity were just telling us the most awful story... About Tally, Lavitar, Vulpix, Teddyursa, and Misdreavus."

"Never mind," Sarah shoved her umbrella to her hands, removing her raincoat to hang it up. "I've been at Mrs. Fairgood's filing out a report and I'm quite tired, you'll all have to go."

"Goodnight, Eliza and Estelle." The rest of the girls and Felicity said. "...Goodnight, Sarah."

"Night, you guys." Estelle said with a smile before closing the door after them.

Sarah put her sleeping mask on before crawling into her own bed. "I still can't believe you harbored a wild animal in my room," she snorted before getting under her covers. "And, I never-" she then gasped and yanked her sheets right back and saw there was food still in her sheets. "There are peas in my bed!"

Eliza and Estelle smiled innocently, and then Eliza turned out the light so they could get some sleep. The rest of the night didn't go so well for Eliza, Estelle, or Felicity. They were not having simple dreams, it was about the separation from the poor cheetah cub and their Pokemon.

Estelle and Felicity ended up next to each other, both curious of how they got there and wondered what was going to happen.

There came a majestic golden eagle in front of them who screeched to them, laid an egg and then flew off.

The egg shook a little with a bright yellow glow and revealed the Indian girl they knew very well.

"Good evening, my friends..." Ingrid greeted.

"Ingrid, what's going on?" Estelle asked. "Where are we?"

"Is this a dream or a vision?" Felicity asked.

"Both," Ingrid informed them. "You worry about your nonhuman friends, so your thoughts and feelings make you lie awake at night, wondering and worrying about them. Your friend Eliza too is worried about Tally the cheetah cub, the youngest born from Akela the Cheetah of East Africa."

"What do we do, Ingrid?" Estelle asked. "And where are we supposed to go?"

"You were all given the gift to talk to animals for a reason," Ingrid said to them as she made images of their Pokemon and cheetah friend appear with her hands. "You must not waste time. You must go to your destiny."

"What do you mean?" Felicity asked the gifted feral child.

"Where are we supposed to go?" Estelle added.

"Your friends are alive," Ingrid continued as she held a carrying stick securely in her hands. "Go save them, you girls."

All three of the girls woke up from the dream vision that they had and knew exactly what they had to do. Eliza had a similar dream, but about the shaman, and she started to pack with Estelle. Felicity packed her things as well.

Sarah woke up and glared at her room-mates. "What are you doing?" she demanded firmly.

"We have to leave." Eliza and Estelle said to her.

"I'm calling Mrs. Fairgood." Sarah threatened, reaching for the phone in their room.

"No, please! You have to keep this a secret." Estelle said, stopping her from reaching the phone and then brought out Sarah's purse. "Do you have a credit card? We need five tickets to Africa."

"Africa!?" Sarah snarled as she snatched her purse right back. "I am not taking part in this!"

"Our parents will pay you back," Estelle promised. "No one will know you helped us until this is all over."

"Until what's all over?" Sarah glared to them. "You're acting so odd... I'm reporting you lot at once."

"Please, Sarah, this is a matter of life or death we need to get Africa and we really need your help, please." Eliza begged.

Estelle tried to think of what would let Sarah help them and then came up with an idea.

"Besides, without me or Eliza around ,you'll have the room all to yourself again." Estelle tempted while handing Sarah the phone.

Sarah actually liked that offer and dialed a different number. "Which one of you would prefer aisle or window?" she asked before calling the local airport.

Estelle and Eliza told her which one they'd like and then continued to pack before going to get Felicity, Darwin, and Simon.

Felicity was coming out her own room door. "Good night, girls... Maybe we'll run into each other sometime again in the future..." she whispered to Arlene and Muffy once she was all dressed and packed up, ready to go.

Arlene and Muffy told her good night and wished her luck on her adventure. And where Felicity didn't have to go far to get Estelle and Eliza as the two were already ready to go, now they just needed to get Darwin and Simon. Remembering where the boys were, they went straight to the horse stables.

"Guys, wake up..." Eliza whispered loudly, opening the door they were behind.

Darwin mumbled as he woke up. "Oh, I've tried to keep track of the days, but they've blurred into months." he groaned.

"It's only been four hours." Estelle looked at him.

"Simon, wake up..." Felicity whispered to her brother.

Simon squeezed his eyes, he then looked up to her and instantly latched onto her for comfort and security.

"Alright, come on, we're going to Africa." Estelle said.

"Right... Come on..." Felicity told her brother.

They all escaped away from Lady Beatrice's school grounds and made it downtown as there were people out late at night, passing down the streets, but didn't seem to mind or question why there were children and a chimp out so late at night with no adult supervision.

"We're almost to the airport." Estelle said while running.

They found a lorry to take who dropped them off at the nearest exit to a subway. The kids and chimp dashed off, trying to make the subway and then take a plane which would then take them to the train station into East Africa. They all made it onto the subway and took their seats until they would make it to the airport.

"Whew, made it." Eliza sighed.

"I did not think we could have kept up..." Felicity added, she then cradled Simon.

Darwin gasped at the pierced and pink Mohawk man until Eliza pulled him away. They all then took their seats until they would be brought to the airport.

"It shouldn't take us that long to get to the airport." Estelle said.

"It smells funny in here..." Felicity said as she continued to hold Simon close for warmth and comfort that only a sister could offer.

"Did you guys have a dream too?" Eliza asked Estelle and Felicity quietly. "I saw the shaman in my dream."

"We had a dream too, only in our dream, Ingrid, a friend of ours, was in it." Estelle told her quietly.

"Who's Ingrid?" Eliza asked.

"She's a little hard to explain," Felicity shrugged. "She's just this incredible girl... I mean, she's about our age, but she's so smart and does a lot of crazy stuff!"

"She's kind of like the shaman and where she lives with the wolves, but at times, will appear in our dreams." Estelle explained.

"We met her in Nome, Alaska where we met Balto and Jenna after the birth of their puppies..." Felicity added.

"You guys know Balto?" Eliza was shocked and amazed.

"Yeah, you and your family should go there sometime." Estelle suggested.

"I'm sure Dad will make sure of that," Eliza smiled with a small shrug. "Though, we should go on vacation sometime... A real family vacation."

The subway took them to the airport and they rushed to the desk with their passports since they were leaving the country.

The man checked them and allowed them through, though glanced to Darwin since he had Sarah's passport, but was allowed on the plane as well.

'Alright, we're in.' Estelle thought to herself.

Eliza and Darwin had their own seat while Estelle, Felicity, and Simon had one.

"Oh, great, seated in front of a half-pint..." a man groaned.

Simon stood up from his seat, glaring to the man and climbed over his seat. "I was going to be patient and quiet during this trip, but now you've forced me, for the next four and a half hours, you're my victim..." he growled before getting back down in his seat and furiously kicked the seat in front of him.

"Ow!" The man groaned.

Felicity put a pillow under Simon's head and wrapped a blanket around him. Simon soon stopped and settled himself down, even putting his thumb in his mouth.

"Aw!" Felicity smiled.

Estelle yawned and fell asleep on the plane herself. Felicity stretched a little and got some sleep with them as it was rather late. Eliza and Darwin both share two seats next to a window. They tried to talk, but a man came to sit with them, making Darwin not able to talk with Eliza. He tired himself out and they both decided to get some sleep while the plane took them out of London. There was a tinkling bell like noise heard outside the window, followed by a pointy-eared shadow.

"Was that...?" Felicity wondered as she caught a glimpse. "Nah... It... It couldn't be..."

"What is it, Felicity?" Estelle asked.

Felicity shrugged. "It's probably nothing..."

"Oh... Um, okay?" Estelle said, a little confused.

They all then continued to sleep until their plane would land and wake them up.


	10. Chapter 10

They all dressed warmly once they ended up in Africa and traveled until they would find a railroad station, passing many inhabitants and foreigners.

"Almost there." Estelle said.

They all made it on the train and the sun went down as another day had passed. Estelle, Felicity, and Eliza looked out the windows as they were almost to East Africa, passing the infamous Pride Rock.

"I wonder of how they're doing." Estelle said.

"Tally, Lavitar, Teddyursa, Vulpix, and Misdreavus?" Eliza asked.

"Well, yeah, them, but more of King Simba and Queen Nala in the Pridelands..." Estelle said since they passed Pride Rock.

"I am sure they're fine..." Felicity soothed.

There was an evil lioness with crimson eyes staring at Pride Rock, but stayed in the shadows with her cubs as the train passed.

"We'll find you, guys," Eliza whispered. "We promise."

"Yeah." Estelle added in.

The horn blared as they went on.

Meanwhile, the next morning in the Thornberry camp...

Baboons chased after Donnie after he took a bag of their Cheese Munchies and did his new dance, running away from them, but was happy and wild as he always was.

"Donnie, would you leave those baboons alone?" Mo asked.

Donnie just laughed as he ran off with his new friends.

Mo sighed and shook her head. "Honestly, I wonder how Nigel and Marianne put up with you..." she gave a small smile to the wild child.

"We'll be gone until after the eclipse," Nigel said as he left the Comvee with camping supplies. "Will you be all right with Donnie?"

"Are you kidding?" Debbie smiled sarcastically. "This will be the highlight of my young life."

"That's the spirit, Poodles!" Nigel chirped, not getting sarcasm.

"Nigel, have you been in the wilderness so long that you don't get sarcasm?" Cherry deadpanned as she filed her nails at one of the lunch tables outside the Comvee.

"I'm not sure I ever got it, Cherry..." Nigel said to her as he set up with his wife and Mo to see the eclipse. "Now, stay close to camp," he then told his elder daughter. "You might see a hyena roving about."

"Excuse me while I go find a container for my joy." Debbie scoffed.

"Very well, we'll wait right here," Nigel said, but then realized what she said and chuckled in amusement to her. "Oh, that's sarcasm, isn't it?"

"Maybe I should stay behind just to make sure Debbie doesn't keep going with that attitude and also make sure she doesn't take a ride on that." Mo said, pointing to the motorcycle.

"Are you sure?" Marianne asked. "You'll miss the eclipse."

"Oh, you guys go have fun," Mo insisted with a smile. "Besides, it wouldn't be the same without Atticus or the kids all together."

"Yeah." Akito and Vincent agreed since they were without their sister.

"Well, okay, if you're really sure," Nigel said. "We'll keep the radio on then if you ever wanna call to check-up on how it's going."

"We'll call you on shortwave." Marianne added after taking out more supplies, joining her husband in their vehicle.

Forte helped Cherry, once she was comfortable, he sat with her. Debbie glanced to Akito and Vincent as she was forced to babysit.

"Oh, come on, Debbie, cheer up, maybe we can do something fun around here." Akito told her.

"Good luck with that since we can't take the Com..." Debbie folded her arms, glancing at the family motorcycle. 

Donnie came with his baboon friends and they all danced together. A baboon shook its butt in Debbie's face before joining the others.

"That is so wrong..." Debbie groaned at her misfortune.

"I agree." Vincent said.


	11. Chapter 11

Meanwhile, back with Eliza, Estelle, Felicity, Simon, and Darwin...

The girls had fallen asleep until the heard yelling outside the window. "HELP! THE POACHERS! I'VE BEEN SHOT!"

The three girls woke up and they looked out the window to see a poor rhino had a net stuck on him.

"Guys, get up!" Estelle shook Darwin and Simon awake.

Darwin and Simon woke up instantly from being shaken awake. Eliza then rushed to the front of the train to have the conductor stop the train so they could help the rhino. Estelle joined her so then, possibly with the both of them trying to get the conductor's attention, he'll stop the train. People crowded, unfortunately for them, the door was on a different cart and they had to jump to it.

Eliza jumped carefully and pounded on the door. "A rhino's been shot!" she called as loud as she could. "You have to let us off this train!"

The conductor could not hear her, he kept the buttons at work as he watched the tracks. The rhino looked weaker and nearly collapsed onto the plains.

"Oh, no, quick Eliza, we have to jump!" Estelle told her.

Felicity came to their sides.

"Okay, on three," Eliza told her friends. "One... Two.... Three!"

They then jumped to the cliff, they fell and rolled a little in the process however and fell on the ground. Simon then followed after, tucking himself to look like a ball and rolled after while Darwin was forced after them. The rhino was very weak and ended up in the middle of the ground, unable to go any further.

"Don't worry, you'll be okay." Estelle soothed the rhino.

"Just hang on, we'll get help," Eliza added. "You'll be okay."

"What happened?" Felicity asked the poor rhino.

"They shot me..." the rhino grunted, trying to catch his breath and talk at the same time, which wasn't easy. "At the river... They were trying to take my horn.... When I ran away..."

"You poor thing." Estelle soothed.

Eliza tried to undo the net, but it was tangled up. Simon crawled on top of the rhino, took out a pocket knife and started to cut at the net while the girls cried for help. A couple of adults came out of their passing vehicle and walked over, once they saw the girls and the rhino.

"Please help!" Estelle cried out. "This rhino's been shot!"

The couple rushed over, the woman gave a cloth to Eliza to apply pressure to medicate the rhino.

"Is he still alive?" Felicity asked.

"Barely," the woman cooed. "But don't worry, I think I can save him." she then checked a heartbeat on the rhino.

"You're very brave young ladies," the man said as he removed the net carefully as he could. "We just saw you jump from that train."

Simon glared to the couple for some reason, almost as if he didn't trust them.

"We had to save this rhino, we...." Estelle said before seeing the knife Simon used to start cutting the net. "That's the same knife from the poacher that took Tally, Larvitar, Teddyursa, Vulpix, and Misdreavus."

"Excuse me?" the man looked to her.

"Honey, keep applying pressure." the woman told Eliza once it caught her attention too.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Eliza stammered, doing as she said.

Simon narrowed his eyes even more, starting to lowly growl.

"Oh, it's the authorities!" Felicity called once a car was pulling up to their sight.

"Oh, thank goodness, the authorities." The man smiled, thankful that the police had arrived.

"What's happened here?" a cop asked, taking notes.

"Poachers shot him," Estelle explained. "They're at the river, please, you must find them! They even took a cheetah cub and five Pokemon!"

"A cheetah and Pokemon..." the cop listed in his notes.

"I recognize their knife," Eliza added urgently. "You have to call Jomo Umbeli and Detective Atticus Fudo!"

"You know Jomo and Atticus?" the cop asked as he went back to his vehicle.

"Yes, Jomo is best friends with my father, Nigel Thornberry, and Atticus is Estelle's father and Felicity's uncle!" Eliza told him.

"Yeah, just tell them that Eliza, Estelle, and Felicity found the knife, they'll know what it means!" Estelle told the officer.

"We were just at the river," the man walked over to the girls. "There was no sign of poachers. Oh, by the way, I'm Sloan Blackburn. We're studying endangered wildlife."

The man spoke in his native language into a tiny radio to send over back-up.

"There's gonna be one less rhino in the world if we don't get this poor guy back to our camp." the woman frowned. 

"My wife, Bree," Sloan introduced. "She's a wildlife veterinarian."

"Wow." Estelle smiled.

The men loaded up the rhino and decided to take him to a Rhino Sanctuary. Eliza wiped her eyes as a tear escaped, worried for the rhino's life.

"Eliza, don't worry," Sloan soothed. "They'll take care of him. Don't worry."

Eliza hung her head and walked with him.

Felicity picked up Simon as he still looked aggravated. "Do you miss Maman?" she asked softly and hugged him.

Simon growled to Sloan and Bree.

"Girls, can we give you a lift somewhere?" Sloan offered. "You all shouldn't be alone with poachers out there, especially the little one."

"No thanks, our camp isn't far from here." Eliza smiled.

"We have to get back to our work, girls," Bree apologetically told the small group. "But, I do hope we see you again."

"Us too." Eliza, Estelle, and Felciity smiled back.

Sloan smiled to them as he joined Bree and then the two drove off together. Darwin was walking down to join them as the couple mysteriously disappeared.

"Come on, Dar," Eliza told her chimp friend. "We have to find those poachers."

"You mean we have to find your parents, you saw what those poachers did to that rhino." Darwin said.

"But if they're close, then Tally and the others are too." Estelle said.

"Girls, no!" Darwin tried to stop them. "If those awful people see you again, they'll... Well, they'll hurt you... And I'm not going to let that happen." he then firmly turned his back to them and folded his arms. He actually had a point.

"You're right, Darwin," Eliza said lowly. "We can't do this alone..."

"Okay, here's the plan," Felicity proposed. "We'll find your parents' camp."

"It's not far, is it?" Darwin groaned.

"We'll get there..." Eliza said, putting on her backpack. "By morning."

"Yep, so we better start walking." Estelle smiled.

"Oh, I wish we'd never left Lady Beatrice's..." Darwin groaned. "Thunder said there'd be days like this."

"Really?" Felicity asked. "Why?"

"I'd rather not talk about it..." Darwin groaned as they walked down the railroad tracks.


	12. Chapter 12

Meanwhile...

That night at the Thornberry camp, Debbie was trying to put Donnie, Akito, and Vincent to sleep by telling them a bedtime story.

"So, this cute dude named Jack plants these magic beans, cuz he's like, you know, hungry," Debbie narrated. "Then a mondo beanstalk grows overnight way up into the clouds!"

"Cool." Akito said.

Donnie jumped up and down with a giggle.

"Bush babies, how annoying..." Debbie scoffed, then pulled her hair up into a ponytail after she finished brushing it. "So, Jack, who's totally buff by the way, climbs up the beanstalk and finds a golden goose, a golden harp--"

"I thought the goose laid golden eggs?" Vincent interrupted.

"Who's telling the story here?" Debbie glared to him before continuing. "And a big, scary..."

There was suddenly a loud thud that shook the whole Comvee.

"Giant?" Akito said, confused.

Donnie ran around and started to climb out of the Comvee. Debbie was very scared and worried for her adoptive younger brother and started to try to look for him before he would get himself hurt. Mo, Akito, and Vincent all then joined her to find Donnie.

"What's going on in there!?" Cherry's voice snapped as a flashlight shined through the Comvee window.

"Uh, nothing, go back to sleep, Mrs. Forte!" Debbie chuckled nervously.

Cherry hummed sharply, then turned out the light. 

"Let's find your little brother and quick." Akito whispered.

"Where could he be?" Vincent sounded concerned.

Debbie crawled through first, gently calling for her brother's name. However, Donnie surprised them all, wearing a pasta drainer on his head, wielding a ladle and a pot top, looking like a kitchenware warrior and even did a battle cry. He rushed out the door, going to protect the others. 

"Donnie, would you get back in here already?" Akito asked.

A giant bag was dropped down in the middle of the ground, halting them.

"Radcliffe!" Cordelia called to her husband as she was parachuting down. "You never told me how to land!"

"Grandmumsy?" Debbie asked in surprise.

"It's all in the knees, Cordie!" Colonel Thornberry called to his wife. 

"Colonel?" Debbie asked, confused.

"You have weird names for your grandparents." Akito whispered.

"You and your friends are looking well, Deborah..." Colonel chuckled as he accidentally crashed into a tree, dangling high above them now before letting himself down and approaching his eldest grandchild. "Do we have a kiss for Grandpapa?"

"Um, where did Cordelia land?" Mo asked.

"There she is." Vincent pointed.

Cordelia ended up in the ground, having trouble with her parachute. "I knew I shouldn't have brought the good china..."

"So, um, Colonel, Cordelia, what brings you both here?" Mo asked the elderly couple with a polite smile for them. 

"Yeah, why are you two here?" Vincent asked.

Cordelia went inside the Comvee and put tea on the kettle, pouring cups. "Dreadful news," she informed all of them. "Your sisters and niece have run away from Lady Beatrice's," she informed strictly. 

"Under cover of night with Darwin and that little devil, Simon." Colonel added.

"Excuse me?" Debbie glanced at her grandfather in confusion. "Did you say that monkey and the bratty half-pint got to go to London?"

'Debbie, Mo, are you and the others there?' Marianne asked from the radio. 'Over.'

Debbie excitedly rushed over. "Mom, guess who's here?" she asked, very giddy and excited.

Cordelia took away the calling system. "There's no need to alarm your parents," she told her granddaughter. 

"What Deb's grandmama means is, there's no need to have Marianne blame her a minute earlier than necessary..." Colonel whispered to Akito, Vincent, and Mo with a chuckle. He then took a spoon off Donnie's 'helmet' and used it to stir his tea. 

"So, why else are you two here?" Akito whispered.

"Eliza, Estelle, and Felicity were last seen boarding a train, heading to Congo," Cordelia informed. "We'll take them back to London the minute they arrive."

'Debbie, who's there?' Marianne asked.

"Uh... Some really cute bush babies..." Debbie lied because her grandmother told her to. 

'Debbie, did I just hear you call a wild animal cute?' Marianne sounded concerned. 

'That's called sarcasm, dearest.' Nigel said before chuckling.

'Oh, sure, now he gets the word sarcasm.' Vincent thought to himself while groaning.

Debbie groaned about her nuisance of a father.


	13. Chapter 13

The next morning elsewhere...

The girls found a couple of bulls and asking them for help.

"Sure, you can ride with us," one of the bulls told them. "My owner will never know."

"Hurry before he sees us." Estelle told her friends and they rushed to the back of the covered wagon. 

"Don't have to tell me twice." Darwin said.

They got to the back and the driver traveled with them, unaware they were in there as there were caged chickens everywhere.

"How did I end up here amongst chickens?" Darwin shuddered a little from the feathers.

"I wonder if Patch's friend Spot's around here?" Estelle asked with a joking chuckle. 

"Well, let's hope that we get to the campsite soon!" Darwin complained.

Felicity sniffled and sneezed from the several feathers. "Oh, I hope it is not too far now..."

Meanwhile, back at the Thornberry campsite...

"Guys, this may look like a shark cage, but it's really a playpen," Debbie said as she had Akito, Vincent, and Debbie inside of a cage while Mo decided to go out and find some food for everyone else. "It's where nice little boys play when their sisters need peace and quiet and their mothers go out for errands." 

"Debbie! What are you doing?!" Mo scolded.

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing, Mrs. Fudo..." Debbie said to her.

"We're gonna have a serious talk about this when I get back..." Mo firmly looked to the blonde girl and walked off through the forest.

Debbie put the cage door back onto the cage, trapping Akito, Vincent, and Donnie. However, Donnie saw someone coming and happily chattered, very excited right now. 

"Wahoo!" Akito cheered.

All three of them then ran out to them, pushing the cage door open. Eliza and Estelle happily reunited with their brothers.

Simon came to the scene and looked around. "Mama...?" he whispered. "Mama..." 

"She must still be asleep." Estelle said.

"Well, if it isn't the little boarding school drop-outs and their sidekicks Chimpo and Tweedledum." Debbie glanced to them.

"Save it, Deb," Eliza glanced to her. "We need to talk to Mom and Dad."

"Well, they're not here," Debbie folded her arms. "You can talk to me and pretend I'm listening." 

"Well, where are they?" Eliza asked. "And where's Estelle and Felicity's moms?"

"Mom and Dad are in the jungle filming some solar thing," Debbie listed. "Estelle's mom said she was going out for food, and I think Cherry's mom is still asleep or something..."

Eliza noticed that Debbie said 'solar'. "But the eclipse isn't until tomorrow!" she said to her sister.

"What. Ever." Debbie scoffed.

"Fine, we'll call them on the radio." Eliza said, leading Estelle and Felicity to the Comvee doors. 

"Don't go in there~..." Debbie warned them.

Eliza ignored that at first, but when she opened the door, she saw her sleeping grandparents and quickly shut the door before she would wake them. "What are they doing here!?"

"Taking you back to England," Debbie replied. "Not that either of you deserve to go." 

"Well, we're not going back, we came back to rescue Tally and the others and that's what we are going to do, we just need Eliza's dads help." Estelle said.

Debbie was very frustrated. "What is wrong with you!?" she scolded them. "Eliza, you finally get a chance to escape our rolling jail and instead you come bck with hostages like some freaky homing pigeon!"

Eliza ignored her as she and her friends gained access to the computer. 

"Alright, now to draw out a map." Estelle said.

Debbie continued with her rant about how she hated traveling around the world with her family and never being able to live like a normal teenager. Felicity drew the map, tuning her out. 

"I don't know about you, but I'm not going to my prom with some purple butted baboon!" Debbie slammed the computer shut so they would listen to her.

"Debbie, leave us alone!" Estelle, Eliza, and Felicity sneered at her. 

"We're going to find Mom and Dad and you're not going to stop us!" Eliza added firmly after the map was ready.

"Oh, yes, I am!" Debbie chased after them. 

"Debbie, no!" Estelle glared.

"No, Debbie, you're not stopping them and neither are we." Akito said.

Debbie grabbed onto Eliza's backpack, but she stumbled backward, Vincent tripped her, and Akito shut the cage door. Donnie found the keys and decided to take them.

"Hey, let me out of here!" Debbie told them.

"Sorry, Deb, you'll have to take that up with the warden!~" Eliza sang while leaving with the others.

"Should we go too?" Akito asked Vincent as the girls left with Darwin and Simon. 

"Yeah, besides it's better than staying with Debbie." Vincent said.

Akito and Vincent then chuckled and eagerly followed the girls. Donnie followed after them after leaving the keys on an ant hill. Debbie cringed as she did her best to reach the keys, though luckily, she was actually able to after she removed the insects before getting the key herself. 

As soon as she was out, she got away on the family motorcycle. Mo having to hear the motorcycle ran off to go and find Debbie and stop her from leaving with the vehicle while Eliza's grandfather woke up to the sound of the motorcycle. Eliza's grandmother reassured him it was nothing and the two went back to their lazy slumber.

"If that girl was my daughter, I'd ground her!" Mo growled as she tried to stalk down Debbie. But when she got there, Debbie was gone with the motorcycle, but that wasn't what also caught her attention, she saw a trail of foot prints with the motorcycle tire tracks and she saw that all three of her kids and Eliza's and Felicity's and Darwin's and Donnie's footprints and decided to leave a note and then went off, following the footprints.


	14. Chapter 14

Cordelia and Colonel officially woke up. Forte left the tent Cherry was in and waved the air in front of him due to the smoke inside the tent. He then saw something that wasn't there, in fact, there was more than one not there.

Cordelia woke up and looked around. "Where are they?"

Forte saw a note and walked over to it, picking it up to read.

"Who left the note?" Colonel asked.

"It's from Monique..." Forte looked over the paper.

The radio went off and Marianne called for an approved signal.

"Oh, hello, Marianne..." Forte greeted casually.

"I'm afraid Elizabeth and Deborah aren't here right now." Cordelia told her daughter-in-law.

"Along with Akito, Estelle, Vincent, and Felicity." Forte added in.

"But the good news is that the chimpanzee turned up in England," Cordelia replied. "But never mind that... Monique left a note." she then put her reading glasses over her eyes to read the woman's handwriting.

"What does it say?" Marianne asked.

"Hang tight'," Cordelia read, then paused as it sounded out of character for her. "That's Monique talking, not I. 'Going after Debbie who took the Congo-Com to find Donnie, who followed Eliza and the others, they're headed for the valley. I'll be back as soon as I can. Kisses, Mo'."

"My children are in the jungle alone!?" Marianne grew devastated.

"Don't worry, luv, we'll find them," Nigel said before calling on the radio. "I say, Dad, are you there?"

"Right here, my boy." Colonel smiled once he heard Nigel's voice.

"You'll have to pick us up downriver," Nigel instructed. "I'll give you our coordinates. Can you triangulate a position?"

"They didn't call me 'Colonel' for my chicken recipe." Colonel chuckled to his son.

"You better help him..." Cordelia told the court composer.

Forte released a sharp exhale, feeling this was going to be quite a challenge.

Eliza and the others were now looking for Donnie, having to already lose him while having to be followed by a certain mother, following their footprints. Eliza called for Donnie as they walked along. Donnie was dangling from a tree top and babbling.

"Does this, uh, human belong to anyone?" a male gorilla asked, carrying Donnie by his shorts.

"Thanks," Eliza sounded relieved. "I hope he wasn't any trouble."

"Not really," the gorilla climbed down to them. "Gotta get used to little ones hanging around the jungle that are flesh. But you might wanna tell him that when a gorilla is sleeping, he doesn't want a dung beetle shoved up his nose... Just glad that he didn't wake up Terkina."

"Terkina?" Akito, Estelle, Vincent, and Felicity asked, knowing that name a little.

"My mate." the gorilla replied as he continued to carry Donnie.

"Well, we're sure that it's just a phase." Vincent said.

"That's what we're hoping for." Darwin chuckled.

"Did you say your mate's name was Terkina?" Felicity asked the gorilla.

"Do you know her?" the gorilla asked.

"Only from a story our parents told us once." Estelle explained.

"Yeah or as her friends call her, Terk." Vincent said.

"Kids! Kids!" Mo's voice called out, sounding close.

"Mom?" Akito and Estelle wondered.

Donnie tried to put the bettle up Simon's nose, but Simon kept pushing him away in disgust and discomfort.

"There you all are." Mo said before seeing that Estelle truly was back from the boarding school along with Eliza and Felicity.

"Mrs. Fudo?" Eliza asked.

"Tante Mo?" Felicity added.

Mo hugged her children with a smile, before breaking out of the hug and looking very firm to them.

"First, you girls are never going back to that school, and two, what are you kids doing here in the middle of the jungle?" Mo asked. "Don't you know it's dangerous?"

"We know, Mom, but we don't care, we just want to save Tally and the others." Estelle said.

"Tally?" Mo asked.

"That cheetah cub that was with our Pokemon," Akito explained. "I don't condone Estelle and Felicity running away from school, but they have to..."

"I'm afraid it's too dangerous for children your age to wander around alone in the jungle..." Mo said to them.

"You've lived on the streets since you were our age!" Estelle reminded her mother. "If you can do that, we can do this!"

"I lived on the streets because I ran away from home, I don't want you kids to make the same mistakes I did!" Mo frowned to them, worrying about their safety.

But then she saw they same determination in their eyes as Atticus did when he was their ages.

"But, I guess I can't stop you kids from doing what you are determined to do, so then, I guess I'll have to go with you kids." Mo smiled.

"You sure, Mom?" Vincent asked, knowing how moms could be about these sort of things.

"Just let me go with you," Mo said to them. "And I promise not to embarrass you."

"Fine, you can come with us." Vincent groaned.

Mo smiled and clapped.

"Excuse me," Eliza told the leaving gorilla. "I'm looking for my parents. Have you seen two people on the way to Timbo Valley?"

"Two people?" the gorilla asked as he was about to return to his home nest. "Were they riding in those loud whirlybirds?"

"You mean helicopters." Felicity corrected.

"Guys, it might be the poachers..." Darwin was alarmed as he overheard 'helicopter'.

"Did you see who they were, did they have a cheetah cub and four Pokemon with them?" Estelle asked.

"I only saw the whirlybirds land on the ground, and then I saw people putting a fence across the valley." the gorilla informed.

"A fence?" Eliza wondered.

"Do you know what for?" Akito asked the primate.

"I'm not certain, young one..." the gorilla said as he continued to go home.

"Something's up..." Felicity whispered.

"What's the quickest way to the valley?" Mo asked the gorilla.

"Follow the river," the gorilla reported. "Be careful."

"Darwin, get Donnie, we're leaving." Mo told the chimp.

"Donnie, this is no time for your games!" Darwin called, looking for the feral boy.

Donnie jumped and landed on his shoulders, trying to shove a beetle up his nose this time.

"Don't force it, chimp," the gorilla told Darwin as he made his way to his family group. "It'll come out in its own good time."

Darwin moaned as he tried to get the beetle out of his nose while Donnie followed the others to Timbo Valley.

While that was going on, Marianne, Nigel, Cordelia, and Colonel began to search for the kids. Forte and Cherry were with them. Cherry looked very sick due to them being on the water.

"Take your pill, you know you always get seasick when it comes to water." Forte told her.

Cherry took the pill from his hand and gulped it down with a glass of water he brought aboard with them.

"Feel better?" Forte asked.

Cherry gave a stoic, though less sickening, thumb's up to him, reminiscent of their youngest child.

"You see," Nigel spoke up as they traveled. "As many as 1,000 elephants will converge during the eclipse. I'm afraid my desire to witness a natural marvel might have influenced Eliza and her new friends... They must have decided that they couldn't miss it."

"No..." Marianne shook her head. "Eliza and her friends wouldn't come all the way from London just for that. There's something else going on... I'm just afraid that she'll get hurt... Cherry, aren't you worried about Felicity?"

"I spent eight years worrying about her without even getting to be there for her..." Cherry sounded uncaring. "She'll be fine."

"They all will." Colonel said.

"How do you know, Colonel?" Marianne wearily asked her father-in-law. "And don't say 'because they're Thornberrys'."

"No..." Colonel shook his head. "Because they've been raised by you, and quite wonderfully if I may add... Even if Felicity grew up without her mother, she's had the best care based on what I could see."

"I did the very best I could..." Forte whispered. "Like how my mother raised me before she sent me, my brother, and sister away when she couldn't afford to take care of us."

"My husband's right, now, let's find them." Cordelia said.

They all looked out the windows as they traveled through the water gently and peacefully.


	15. Chapter 15

Hours passed and it was now night time in the jungle. Debbie was still in the Congo-Com, but had trouble seeing as it got dark, this was going to be a long night for her. Especially when she ended up in the mud. 

"Debbie, what are you doing in the jungle in the middle of the night?" Atticus's voice asked.

"What?" Debbie didn't recognize the voice at first. "Who said that?" 

"Over here." Atticus's voice said.

Debbie then looked for the source of the voice and found Atticus. "Detective Fudo?" she asked in surprise. "What're you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question..." Atticus folded his arms at the teenage girl.

"Well, I'm here because I was looking for my sister and adoptive brother and her friends." Debbie told him.

"I was trying to find Tally and the Pokemon for them," Atticus replied.

"Well, did you find them?" Debbie asked.

"No, but I did find a village close by where we can spend the night." Atticus told her.

"Um... Okay..." Debbie shrugged, feeling she had no choice, but to join him.

A couple of warthogs snorted and glared to the trespassers.

Debbie fell in the mud and tried to scare them off. "Get out of here, Pork Chops!" 

"Listen, fellas, we don't want any trouble." Atticus said to the warthogs.

The warthogs snarled, but a stick on fire jumped out in front of them and scared them off. The flame died out, making Debbie wonder where it came from. Atticus put his hand up and did hand gestures and a few strange noises that did not sound English. There came a native boy around Debbie's age, carrying a flaming torch in his hand, smiling once he saw Atticus and Debbie.

"Don't worry, Debbie, he's a boy from the village." Atticus said to the teenage girl.

"Um, thanks," Debbie smiled nervously to the native boy. "I don't normally look this bad, just so you know..."

The native boy then helped her up out of the mud.

"Which reminds me, have you seen, like a dorky girl with braces and annoying friends with her?" Debbie asked the native. "Oh, and a monkey wearing clothes and a wild boy?"

The native spoke in his language, not understanding what Debbie was asking him. 

"Um, Detective Fudo, could you translate of what I just asked?" Debbie asked.

Atticus nodded and asked the native boy in his actual language, being fluent in many languages which was what helped earn him his job as a detective. After all, the Great Basil of Baker Street was a linguist himself.

The native boy frowned and shook his head, speaking again.

"Sorry, Debbie." Atticus said to the blonde girl, showing that the boy had not seen them.

"Oh, you have no idea what kind of day I've been having," Debbie sounded exhausted. "Do you have a sister?"

Before Atticus could translate, the boy spoke a word to her. "Boko."

"Is that his name?" Debbie assumed. 

"Yes, that is his name." Atticus smiled.

"Oh, sorry," Debbie said to the native boy. "That was rude. I am Debbie... Hey, Boko, you don't have a premoistened towelette on you by any chance, do you?"

Atticus rolled his eyes, not even going to bother translating that, but he did say something in Boko's language to make it seem like he would. 'Could you take us to your village so we can have a place to stay for the night?'

Boko smiled and led them into his village, but saw his family coming, who were looking for him.

"Oh, that must be his family." Debbie said.

Atticus spoke to the natives to clear everything up so they wouldn't be angry at them for trespassing.

Debbie looked back as the Congo-Com sunk lower and lower into the mud. "I am so grounded..." she muttered, but followed the natives and Atticus through the village. 

Atticus knew that Debbie would need the Congo-Com to continue on, also so she would be grounded so as soon as possible, he was going to ask the natives to help him get it out the mud.

Meanwhile, Eliza and her friends still traveled, but something in the distance gave them hope.

"Look, a campfire!" Eliza pointed excitedly. "It must be my parents! Mom! Dad!"

However, when they passed the bushes and the vines, they saw two familiar faces, but they were not Nigel and Marianne.

"Bree and Sloan?"

"What are you two doing here?" Estelle asked.

"What're you doing out here?" Bree asked.

"The poachers are here," Felicity frowned. "They put up a fence in Timbo Valley."

"Did you see them?" Sloan asked as they let the kids into their camp.

Mo was running a little behind, but she was almost catching up. 

"No... I mean, yes." Estelle covered up before her mother finally caught up.

"And now we have to find Eliza's parents." Vincent spoke up.

"They're filming the elephants!" Eliza added, suddenly running.

"That's why we're here too," Bree smiled. "To... Um... Count the elephant population."

"If we can find any of course." Sloan added.

Simon narrowed his eyes at the couple again, lowly growling to him.

"Is he all right?" Sloan asked.

"I think he just misses our mother..." Felicity said as she picked up Simon in her arms. 

"Yeah, they're really hard to find, they only......" Eliza said before remembering what her father told her, Estelle, and Mo. "Oh, no......"

"What's wrong?" Sloan asked.

"They stay in the forest, except during the eclipse," Eliza informed. 

Estelle hit her forehead. "The poachers must have heard the legends!" she concluded. "They're after the elephants!" 

"What?!" Sloan and Bree asked, shocked.

"They must be planning to catch them," Akito added in. "We have to call Jomo and Dad right away!"

"There'll be 1,000 out in the open!" Estelle added about the elephant population.

Sloan seemed hesitant for some reason and tried to work the radio, but had no avail. "No signal... Of all times!"

"Can't you fix it?" Eliza asked.

"Guys, guys, let's stay calm," Bree soothed. "We can't do anything about it tonight. Tomorrow we'll find Eliza's parents and use their radio. It's settled..." she then went into their camping vehicle to get some sleep.

"But..." Estelle said.

"No buts, she's right, it's too late to go searching for Eliza's parents." Mo told her.

"The poachers won't try to go after the elephants before the eclipse," Sloan added. 

"But we're worried about our Pokemon." Akito, Estelle, Vincent, and Felicity frowned.

"And Tally," Eliza added. "The cheetah cub I told you about."

"Kids, it's dark," Sloan said to them. "No sense in getting yourselves lost in the jungle."

"We won't get lost." Estelle retorted.

Donnie and Simon were climbing through the window together, but Sloan took them and put them down back outside. Donnie tired himself out and yawned once he was brought back to Eliza. Simon hissed at Sloan after he was held by the man. 

"Um, Simon doesn't like to be touched," Mo warned him. "I'm Mo by the way."

Sloan shook her hand and introduced himself and Bree after putting Simon down on the ground.

"Bree, you look familiar to me somehow..." Mo said to the blue-haired woman. 

"I'm sure it's a friendly coincidence," Bree smiled as she put sleeping bags next to the campfire. "Now, Eliza, you, your friends, your chimp, and your little brother, you can sleep right here."

Darwin walked to his new sleeping bag and fell right asleep, snoring as soon as he fell down. Felicity took Simon in her arms to settle him down. Simon's eyes flashed a red color as he glared at Bree and Sloan. After a little while, the rest of them were now all asleep.


	16. Chapter 16

Atticus and Debbie were sleeping in a shelter that Boko's tribe had given them until they both decided to wake up as soon as they saw that the sun was out. 

"Well, it's time to get up." Atticus said as soon as he saw the sun out.

Debbie groaned a little as she sat up and held her head. "Oh..." she saw there was a native cloth given to her. "I'd look so hot in this..." she then decided to wear it and join Atticus outside of the shelter.

The natives went about their normal business as their guests came out to see everybody. 

"Morning, everyone." Atticus said in the natives' language.

The others greeted him back with friendly smiles. Boko came up to the two with leaves filled with a crunchy substance.

"Oh, thanks," Debbie sounded relieved and started to eat it. "This is crunchy... What kind of cereal is this?"

Boko pointed to an ant hill where children were collecting ants.

"I would translate to you of what you said, but I think you already get the idea of what kind of food it is, and where he got it from." Atticus said.

"Delicious..." Debbie gulped with a nervous chuckle. 

"Oh, and Debbie, guess what the villagers brought back from the mud pit?" Atticus asked her.

"What...?" Debbie wondered, then saw a group of the villagers bringing over the Congo-Com and it had been rid of the mud, much to her relief and joy. "Oh, thank you!" she then rushed to it and took out a cola can. "My soda!" she then popped it open and started to drink it down.

Boko walked over closer to her.

"Oh, sorry," Debbie smiled apologetically and offered him the can. "Do you want some?"

Boko took the can, wondering what it was and tried some himself since Debbie had some.

"It's called soda." Atticus told him in the native language.

Boko drank some of the soda, but it made his face wrinkle in slight disgust. He had never tasted anything like it before, but it made his nose bubble. "Delicious?" he said, trying to use Debbie's language to be polite.

Debbie smiled, but heard her watch alarm going off. "We're really late for the whole 'finding our family' thing." she told her new friend. 

Boko admired Debbie's watch and complimented it.

"He says 'That's a very beautiful trinket'." Atticus translated for Debbie.

"It's pretty cool, huh?" Debbie smiled, showing him her watch, now sounding like a commercial. "And it's water-proof for up to three feet. Hey, why don't you keep it?" she asked before she gave her watch to him.

Boko took the watch as the alarm went off and he spoke fondly of it.

"'Thank you, Debbie, I'll treasure it'." Atticus translated.

"Oh, and thanks for the skirt," Debbie remembered as she looked to her new lower wear. "You did give me this, right? Boko give Debbie?"

Atticus was about to ask Boko if he did give it to her.

"Debbie give Boko?" Boko asked, pointing to his new present.

"Yes!" Debbie smiled at him. "Oh, I am so good at this communication stuff."

"Yeah, you really are, but I think that we really need to get going." Atticus said.

The natives came to make sure they would be all right and even some kids tried to climb aboard.

"We'll be fine, really," Debbie said to the natives as she put her helmet on. "I know exactly where we're going." She then started the engine and told the natives goodbye as she rode off with Atticus in the buggy seat.

"Debbie, watch out for the vines!" Atticus called.

Debbie looked to see the vines, they clung to her and made her fall out of the Congo-Com. The natives winced and shook their heads at her little accident.

"Um, Debbie, maybe I should drive." Atticus suggested.

Debbie gave in and let him, after stumbling slightly and stammering in front of Boko before she took her leave with Atticus as he got behind the wheel and she rode in the buggy. The tribe leader saw that Boko wanted to help Debbie, so he allowed him to.

"Boko, what're you doing here?" Atticus asked in the native language.

Boko explained that he wanted to help them with the dangers of the jungle due to growing up in it and he would know exactly what to do if they faced anything dangerous or life-threatening.

"Well, I guess the more the merrier, you can come with us." Atticus smiled while talking in Boko's language.

Debbie was about to decline until she saw Boko was able to wrestle, take down, and throw off a dangerous and poisonous snake. When she saw this, she took out an extra helmet to the native boy. "You think this'll fit?"


	17. Chapter 17

Meanwhile, at Bree and Sloan's camp...

There were a few missing from the campground that were not there last night.

"Oh, no, Darwin, wake up, we have to look for Donnie and Simon." Eliza woke up the chimp.

"The eclipse is in a few hours." Feliicty added. 

"Oh, but Donnie's always missing," Darwin whined that he was woken up so early. "And I was dreaming about shepherd's pie."

"What's going on?" Akito asked as he suddenly woke up.

"Donnie and Simon are missing..." Felicity said as she was already awake, due to usually only sleeping two hours at night.

"What?! Oh, no, quick, let's find them." Mo said.

"Bree? Sloan?" Vincent gently pounded on the door. "Have you seen Donnie or Simon? They're--" 

Suddenly, Donnie got the door open while Simon clung to the doorway.

"Boys, Sloan told you to stay out of there!" Felicity scolded.

"Come on, we have to show you something..." Simon told his sister. 

The group followed the little boys inside, but still called for Bree and Sloan, but couldn't seem to find them anywhere.

"Hello! Bree? Sloan? Is anybody in here?!" Mo called out before the door closed behind her and the kids.

When it was all dark, they could see monitors on animals in the wild all together.

"What is all this?" Eliza wondered.

"Surveillance cameras..." Akito already knew.

"I don't like this place," Darwin frowned. "We've got Donnie and Simon, now let's go."

Estelle's ear twitched a little and she turned her head. "What's that?"

"What is it, Estelle?" Felicity asked.

Eliza heard a noise too, it sounded like animals.

"We hear it too." Akito said.

"Something's in there..." Vincent crawled to a door and he was able to remove it.

They all looked and saw a cage filled with familiar looking creatures. A cheetah cub and a few Pokemon.

"Tally?" Eliza wondered if that could be the same cheetah cub.

Tally looked to her after she had said his name.

"Larvitar? Vulpix? Teddyursa? Misdreavus?" Akito, Estelle, Vincent, and Felicity wondered if they were seeing things.

Akito opened the door and once he did, they were all tackled by the cheetah cub and Pokemon who then called their names, warmly embracing them.

"Guys, we have to get out of here!" Vulpix urged.

"What?" Vincent asked his Pokemon.

"What do you mean?" Estelle added as she cuddled her Teddyursa.

The door then mysteriously opened.

"Hello, kids..." Sloan smiled wickedly to them.

"Sloan? This cheetah cub? And my children and niece's Pokemon, where... Where did you get them?" Mo asked him.

"I picked them up on the Savanna." Sloan smiled evilly.

"You bought them?" Felicity asked.

"No," Sloan chuckled. "I picked them up... Right off the ground."

"I told Sloan he shouldn't cut that rope ladder." Bree said as she came up next to her husband."

This caused for all of them to gasp and glare at Sloan.

"It was you!" Estelle glared at him.

"Yes," Sloan took out his knife from his boot pocket. "Thank you so much for returning my knife to me."

"Oh, kitten..." Bree mocked a motherly tone to Tally as she pet the top of his head. "You didn't drink all your milk. How are you ever going to grow big enough to make me a coat?" she then picked up the cub, avoiding his claws and fangs.

"Take your hands off of him!" Mo glared as she took the cheetah cub away from the evil woman and gave him back to Eliza.

Eliza held Tally close then, both of them glaring to Bree and Sloan now.

Bree grabbed Mo by the wrist, narrowing her eyes. "I always knew you were trouble..."

Mo's eyes widened and she then narrowed her eyes back. "You made me and Angel run away..." she realized. "Your mother was paying attention to you all the time after you were born and you made us run away!"

"Ahh... So you finally recognize me, street urchin." Bree smiled evilly.

"I knew there was something familiar about you, Angel could tell there was something wrong with you after you were born!" Mo narrowed her eyes back.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Bree said.

"I'm afraid you'll all miss the solar eclipse..." Sloan smirked darkly. "You can catch it on the Poaching Channel."

Estelle gasped and narrowed her eyes as he said that. "You built that fence!"

"Yes, now Eliza and Estelle, here's a question for your nature loving father and your famous detective father, how many volts of electricity does it take to kill a heard of elephants? Hmm?" Sloan asked with an evil smirk.

Estelle and Eliza recoiled in slight horror of that graphic question. Simon narrowed his eyes from outside the window and started to run off to find his parents.

Meanwhile, as Atticus drove, Debbie was telling Boko all she had been through and made Eliza, Estelle, and Felicity sound like the bad guys for running away from boarding school. Boko told Atticus to stop in his native language.

"What?" Debbie asked. "You say something, Boko?"

"He said 'stop, he thinks he saw something'." Atticus translated.

"What is it?" Debbie wondered, stopping her sob story.

Boko got out of the Congo-Com and went back a little, finding something indeed. He found a sleep mask that belonged to Sarah Wellington that Darwin had brought with him. He then looked into the bushes. "Debbie!" he called to the American girl.

Debbie came to his side as he looked through tall blades of grass. "I don't see anything..."

Boko pointed to show familiar footprints. "Brat sister and friends?" he asked her.

"Oh, brother." Atticus groaned for Debbie for think her sister was a brat.

Boko showed he had also found a hair sample.

"Wow, you're good..." Debbie smiled. "Maybe we can make it to Timbo Valley before lunchtime."

"Timbo Valley?" Boko asked.

"Yeah, you know it?" Debbie asked once they got back on the trail.

"Well, let's just hope they're alright." Atticus said.

"Yeah..." Debbie agreed as they went along.


	18. Chapter 18

"I don't understand this part though," Felicity said to the poachers as they were being held hostage in the camp. "Why are you wanting our Pokemon? They are not wild animals!"

"Do you even know how rare Pokemon are these days? And how much money someone will pay for a real, living, breathing Pokemon? Millions!" Bree told her.

"That is not fair or nice!" Felicity firmly frowned.

"Oh, you kids are little troublemakers..." Sloan tutted after he finished tying up Eliza. "First you show up on my cheetah hunt, and then you jump from a train to save my rhino..."

"He's not your rhino!" Eliza and Estelle snarled.

"Oh, really?" Sloan sneered to them. "And then... Somehow you knew the poachers had shot him at the river, yet you were on a train at the time."

"We guessed." Eliza quickly said, not revealing the truth.

"Perhaps," Sloan glanced back to her. "And now, you arrive in the jungle, knowing about a fence, a fence which no one witnessed being built... So, my little troublemakers, who told you?"

"No one told us." Estelle told him.

Sloan glared to them, he knew they were lying though. "Eliza, are your parents working with that Jomo person?"

"They don't even know we're here." Eliza scowled.

"Then who is your source of information?" Sloan demanded.

"There is no one!" Felicity glared.

"You know too much for little girls," Sloan glared, mostly to Felicity. "Especially one who doesn't have English as a first language." 

Felicity winced, that hurt a little.

"She's learning!" Mo glared at him.

Sloan ignored her. "I have too much invested in this operation to let anything get in my way," he told the girls, very firm with them. "If you don't tell me who they are, you'll never see your families ever again."

The door suddenly opened.

"Sloan, I hear someone coming." Bree reported to her husband.

Sloan left them and shut the door behind him.

"We have got to get out of here." Vincent said.

"The boy's right," Darwin agreed. "I don't like the way that man was looking at us."

"Guys, we saw them with fire sticks," Tally walked over. "And then, there was a loud sound!"

"Explosives?" Eliza asked, now really determined. "Oh, there's gotta be someway out of here!"

"I'll help!" Tally jumped up to chew on their ropes.

"Count us in." The Pokemon jumped up to begin chew on the ropes.

"Yes, that's it, let's get the cheetah and Pokemon involved again..." Darwin sounded grumpy. "If we hadn't gone looking for them that night, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"Don't you blame them!" Estelle scolded like a protective mother.

"Oh, I'm not," Darwin glared back. "They didn't sneak out without permission... They didn't run away from Boarding School... They didn't trust those people who clearly don't like Pokemon or animals!"

"They thought they were like us!" Akito glared at the chimp now.

"When are you kids going to see that no one's like you?" Darwin glanced at them. "What more do you need? Eliza, the shaman gave you a gift and somehow your new friends have the same gift. Use it!"

"Darwin, please!" Eliza begged.

"You know what I think? You and your new friends don't know what to do with your powers!" Darwin glared at them.

"Darwin, for once in your life, just be QUIET!" Eliza scowled.

Darwin felt very hurt by that, but he did as she said and didn't speak for the rest of the time.

"Okay, we're all just stressed out, let's just get free, and get out of here." Mo told them.

"Mom's right." Akito agreed.

"As usual." Mo jokingly smirked.

Felicity then noticed something missing, her brother. "Where is Simon?"

"Oh, come on! Now, where did he go?" Darwin asked.

The others looked around.

"Maybe he's--" Eliza spoke up.

"Haven't you done enough!?" Darwin scolded her and then decided to give her the silent treatment.

Outside the shelter, Atticus, Boko, and Debbie arrived.

"Hi, can we help you?" Bree offered with a smile.

"Oh, yes." Debbie sounded relieved as she removed her helmet.

"We're looking for Eliza Thornberry, Estelle Fudo, Akito Fudo, Vincent Fudo, Felicity Forte, Simon Forte, and my wife, Mo Fudo." Atticus said.

Sloan suddenly grabbed Atticus and Debbie as soon as he said those names. 

"Debbie, Detective Fudo!" Boko cried for them. He then jumped on Sloan's back to make him let go of his new friends.

Sloan managed to throw off Boko by ramming him against the shelter, but still kept a firm hold on Debbie.

"Oh, no, we have to hurry and save your dad and Debbie." Eliza said.

Akito opened the door and they all filed in. "Let them go!" he demanded, the most bravely he could.

"Certainly!" Sloan scowled. "If you tell me who is your source of the information!"

"We've told you!" Eliza cried as Bree came behind them. "There's no one... W-We just guessed all of that stuff! The fence and the explosives and the--"

"I've never mentioned explosives!" Sloan scowled as he dragged Atticus and Debbie to the edge. "You're lying!"

"What is he talking about?" Debbie asked while choking.

"Tell me or they go over the edge!" Sloan demanded, sounding very frightening with rage. 

"Just get rid of them, Sloan!" Bree snarled.

"Please, they don't know anything about this!" Estelle cried, worried for her father and new friend's sister's lives.

"WHO TOLD YOU THESE THINGS!?" Sloan growled.

"We cannot tell you!" Felicity cried.

Eliza had enough however. "Stop, wait!" she gave in, sounding like she was going to cry. "I'll tell you... We know these things because we can talk to animals."

Then all of a sudden, a gust of wind came and where it was bringing Eliza, Estelle, Akito, Vincent, Felicity, Mo, and Atticus, all together in one spot.

"What has she done!?" Sloan barked.

Bree was spooked by what was happening and let go of their hostages, running to a helicopter. "Sloan, let's get out of here!"

Sloan dropped Debbie and Atticus, running with his fleeing wife.

The wind seemed to have blown Atticus to his wife and kids and friends just in time for a strange tornado began to swirl around all of them. Debbie watched and could not believe what she was seeing.

"Debbie!" Boko called to the teenage girl.

"Boko!" Debbie cried for him, but nearly cried as he was blown away. "Please be all right..." she whispered in worry for him.

The storm lasted as the kids rushed back to get their Pokemon and Tally. Mo took Donnie's hand and rushed to Atticus, reuniting with him and their children all together now.

"Darwin, come on!" Eliza told the chimp.

Darwin did not actually speak, he chattered to her and it could not be understood.

"Wait, Darwin, what did you say?" Estelle asked, not understanding the chimp.

Darwin repeated himself, but it still couldn't be understood.

Felicity put her hand to her neck, then noticed her necklace from Pride Rock was not on her anymore. "I cannot understand him either!"

"It's really gone..." Eliza whispered in horror, realizing that their abilities to talk to animals were now vanished.

The Pokemon called to their trainers, saying their names as their only way of communicating.

"Eliza, what happened to us?" Vincent asked.

"Our abilities to talk to animals is gone since I told Sloan." Eliza told him.

There were dead trees in the water and they all climbed aboard them together. Eliza went with Donnie, Darwin, and Debbie while Atticus, Mo, Vincent, Akito, Estelle, and Felicity took another one. It was starting to rain as they traveled on their trees, looking around in worry.

"I hope this storm doesn't get too dangerous." Mo hoped.

"No matter what, we'll be fine, because we're together." Atticus soothed.

Akito, Vincent, and Estelle clung to their parents for warmth and protection. Felicity looked to them and hugged her knees as she was without her parents. Estelle included her in the hug, as she was part of the family, and they also included the Pokemon in the hug. Felicity looked to Estelle and sniffled as she hugged her cousin right back.


	19. Chapter 19

After the storm blew over, the sun was out and they continued to ride on the trees and Debbie was now being told about her sister's long kept secret.

"You expect me to believe that a couple of years ago, you freed a warthog, but he was really a magic man who made it so you could talk to animals, but you had to keep it a secret, or else there'd be some tornado thing and you would lose your powers?" Debbie asked her sister after she was told the story.

"Well, yeah..." Eliza shrugged, that pretty much summed it all up.

"I knew it!" Debbie felt victorious. "That's why you're always sneaking out all the time with Darwin..." she then looked to the Fudo family. "But, how can you guys talk to animals?"

"Well, we were born with it and Felicity, she can only talk to animals when she's wearing the necklace that she got from the Pridelands." Estelle explained.

"I can talk to animals because my mother was Queen Athena's sister from Atlantica." Atticus added in.

"And I always could mostly due to growing up around dogs most of my life before I met him." Mo then added.

Debbie then gasped as she had an idea. "Oh, I have a few things to say to that monkey," she said to her sister. "Tell him I don't appreciate it when he leaves pizza crusts under seat cushions... Go ahead... Tell him... One of you, I don't care who."

"Debbie, I broke the rule," Eliza explained. "I told about our powers, so we lost them..."

"Yeah." Estelle frowned.

"Oh, my gosh..." Debbie dawned in realization. "You guys did that for me?"

"I can't talk to Darwin anymore..." Eliza said, feeling the most hurt. "And the last thing I said to him was really mean... Now, I-I can't even tell him I'm sorry."

Darwin saw something and started to chatter in alarm.

"Um, Eliza, we might not be able to talk to animals anymore, but I think Darwin is trying to warn us about that waterfall!" Akito warned.

"I think he's right!" Debbie cried as the waterfall pushed them.

"Get ready to jump!" Felicity told them all, panicking instantly.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Estelle told her.

The trees were coming for the waterfall and they all jumped as high as they could to branches.

"This must be Timbo Valley." Eliza guessed.

"Wow, it looks amazing." Atticus said.

"And those poor elephants won't be able to enjoy it for long..." Mo sighed a little.

After they climbed down to safety, they hurried and still had time before the eclipse would start.

However, as they ran, they all landed through a trap in the ground and all ended up somewhere else.

"What happened?" Debbie moaned.

"I don't know," Eliza crawled, trying to look for her glasses. "But we have to get out of here."

Darwin found Eliza's glasses and gave them back to her.

"Wow, he really looks out for you." Debbie said.

"Yeah," Eliza smiled. "He's my best friend."

The others smiled to this, but their smiles faded after they heard a noise.

"The elephants!" Eliza, Estelle, and Felciity gasped.

They all ran to the end of the cavern and saw the elephants marching together due to the eclipse. 

"You think Colonel Hahti's out there?" Mo chuckled a little.

"Yeah, along with his wife." Atticus told her.

"It's a trap..." Estelle whimpered once she saw the fence was going to be at the end of the elephants' trail. "They're all going to die and we can't even warn them."

"But... Can't you, like, make elephant noises or something?" Debbie suggested. 

"Debbie, we can't talk to them, how can we help them?" Akito felt hopeless for the first time in his life.

"You just don't understand." Vincent added.

"We don't know how we'll be able to warn them." Felicity told her.

"Shaman Mnyambo told me in a dream that he gave me this gift for a reason," Eliza pondered. "It doesn't matter now... I lost it and thanks to me, so did the Fudos."

Debbie looked to the elephants and tried to give her sister a boost of confidence. She asked the family for privacy. The Fudo family and Felicity, going the other way as they watched the poor elephants walk to their doom.

Felicity sighed as she took out her Pokeball and took out her ghost Pokemon for a little comfort. "I am not special anymore..." she sighed. "Now Maman won't be proud of me."

"Hey, hey, it's alright, your mother and your father will love you the same." Misdreavus told her.

Felicity sniffled, hugging her ghost Pokemon as she felt doomed like the others. After Debbie's pep talk with Eliza, there was a helicopter heard. Bree and Sloan smiled evilly as they had arrived, ready to kill the elephants and they flew to the valley to get a front row seat. Little did they know, someone clung to the helicopter and had a backpack filled with dangerous weapons in it.

"Wait, is that Simon hanging on to a helicopter?" Misdreavus asked.

The others came out to see as the helicopter flew off.

"Do you see the kids, Donnie, or Simon?" Marianne asked her father-in-law as they nearly made it.

"No, but Nigel, what do you make of that?" Colonel handed the binoculars to his son.

"Poachers!" Nigel watched in horror. "They're setting up explosives! The barbarians are going to frighten the elephants and make them stampede right into that electric fence! And there's a young chap stuck on a helicopter with a backpack filled with knives, ropes, and guns!"

"MY BABY!" Cherry cried out as she heard that.

"Yep, that would describe Simon." Forte said.

"Marianne, take us down there!" Cherry demanded.

Eliza, Akito, Vincent, Felicity, and Estelle were swinging down a vine ladder they made, away from the cavern.

"Guys, no!" Debbie told them. "They'll stomp on you!"

"No, they won't!" Eliza said, determined. "Elephants know when you're trying to help them!"

"It's not too late to become ordinary!" Debbie called to them.

"Too late for that!" Estelle called back.

Akito and Vincent join the girls.

Suddenly, the Congo-Com zipped over. "Debbie, Detective Fudo!"

"Boko!" Atticus and Debbie called.

Boko handed Debbie a helmet, using his native tongue.

"You came to help us?" Atticus asked with a smile, he may not have been able to talk to animals anymore, but they didn't stop his linguist skills due to studying them in order to become a detective. "Great!"

The kids continued to flow down and landed safely as the elephants passed. But then Darwin came falling down, attached to a climbing rope.

"Darwin, stay here," Akito told the chimp after helping him down. "We'll be right back."

"We have to stop them somehow and make them turn around." Eliza said to her friends before running off.

The eclipse was starting and it was getting very dark.

"You have to turn back!" Estelle called out to the elephants.

"STOP!" Akito grabbed onto an elephant, but was forced along with it and he got down on the ground, falling into a puddle.

Estelle climbed up to a high rock and looked ahead. "There must be someway to get to the head of the herd..." She then jumped onto an elephant.

The others saw what she did and copied her, ending up on the same elephant all together like they did on Phaedra. 

"Set off the first round of explosives NOW!" Sloan commanded.

'The wires have been cut!' one of the poachers told his boss. 

"Set off the second round!" Sloan then demanded.

The round went off which startled the elephants a little and started to make them run!

"Whoa! Okay! Akito, I think now is a good time to use your powers!" Estelle cried out.

"I'll try!" Akito said to her before going ahead.

"Estelle, we can't talk to animals, remember?" Eliza reminded her.

"Akito has different powers." Felicity explained.

"Like what?" Eliza asked.

"You'll see!" Vincent pointed ahead to his brother.

"Alright, here we go, time to stop, holding back!" Akito called out before pressing a button on his futuristic bracelet, allowing him to use his other powers. He stretched his legs and started to run as fast as Rev Runner. He then jumped from each elephant, being very careful not to fall off, but when he did, he would grab onto a tail and pull himself up. 'All right... What would Dad or Tech do at a time like this?' he thought to himself, trying to use his brain powers this time as they inched closer to the fence. He then got an idea of what to do and then looked to the others.

"What's the plan, Akito!?" Estelle called to her brother, knowing that look in his eyes.

"The fence we need something to use it's electricity to our advantage, but to do that, we'd need to throw something like a medal or a necklace at it to let out the electricity to make the elephants stop!" Akito called to his brother, sister, cousin, and friend.

Eliza reached into her shirt and took out Nigel's medal that he had given to her. She sighed as she read the inscription and decided to use it. It was the only way to save the elephants. The electricity crackled as the medallion was hit against the wires. This made the lead elephant buck up in horror and alarm, making all of the other elephants stop then.

"It worked!" Eliza cheered.

Suddenly, another explosive went off. The other elephants grew frightened and started to walk off again toward the fence.

"Oh, how can we make you understand us?" Akito sighed.

"Wait!" Felicity suddenly thought of something. "Guys! Remember what Phaedra told us!"

"Yeah, to make an elephant stop, all we have to do is......" Akito said. He then gently sat down and hit the elephant gently with his foot behind the ear.

The elephant trumpeted, reared up again, stomped his feet on the ground and turned the other way. The other elephants stopped.

"We did it!" Estelle, Felicity, Akito, Vincent, and Eliza cheered.

"Now, let's get out of here." Akito folded his arms in victory.

"They're turning around!" Sloan scowled at the sight. "Start shooting!"

'But, there are children there!' a poacher told his boss.

"I don't care!" Sloan growled. "Take down those elephants, I'll take care of the kids!"

"Alright, come on, everyone, we're almost out of here!" Akito called out to the elephants.

Suddenly, Eliza and Felicity were grabbed by Sloan on the rope ladder as Debbie, Atticus, Mo, Donnie, and Boko made it on the Congo-Com.

"You will regret this!" Sloan snarled. 

"We don't care!" Felicity snapped. "I may be French, but I will not give up that easily!"

"What you're doing is awful!" Eliza added.

"And what you're doing is stupid!" Sloan scowled. "Shame you won't be here to help me carry out the ivory!" he then dropped the two girls into the rushing waterfall.

Simon's eyes flashed red this time, he pounced from behind the helicopter and made it to the door, putting his hands over Bree's eyes.

"HEY!" Bree snapped, grabbed him and threw him down on the floor. "Stupid brat!"

Simon took out his teddy bear, ripped the head off, and took out a pistol, glowering at her. Estelle rushed off and dived into the water, along with Akito and Vincent

Sloan was trying to get a good shot of the elephants with his gun. "What on Earth!?"

Simon scowled and started to shoot at them. Sloan and Bree ducked down from the actual bullets that broke the glass on the windows. Simon then crawled over top of them and made the controls go down to the elephants and he made a symbol to them.

The lead elephant got that message and grabbed onto the rope ladder with his trunk to make these poachers pay. Bree and Sloan jumped out of their crashing helicopter. Simon took the only parachute and dropped down with it, leaving them in their big mess. While that was going on, the kids were all still going down the river while Atticus and Mo were following them.


	20. Chapter 20

Estelle, Akito, and Vincent grabbed Eliza and Felicity, trying to get through the water, but the current was very strong. Atticus and Mo tried to get their children, but they were being pushed too far away. Two figures were on the shore by them and the man offered his stick to them to help fish them out. They of course accepted the stick and were being pulled in.

As soon as they made it to shore, the Fudo siblings' tail fins disappeared and their legs and feet returned.

"Man, that was intense!" Akito gasped a little.

The kids then looked to see who was before them, it was the shaman and the feral Indian girl they knew.

"Shaman Mnyambo, I'm sorry," Eliza told her spiritual guide. "I messed everything up, especially for my new friends... We couldn't make them understand. If I hadn't broken the rule, we could have saved them."

"But you did save them." the shaman informed her.

"All of you," Ingrid added and pointed to the living elephant herd. "See for yourselves."

"Th-The elephants are still alive!" Estelle smiled.

"You all did this, not with your gifts, but with your hearts," Ingrid told the others. "If that is what you can do without your powers, you have greater destinies than I or the shaman could ever know."

"She is right," the shaman agreed with the Alaskan girl. "We're going to give you your powers back."

"You are?" Vincent asked in delight.

"Really?" Eliza added.

They all shared a brief hug before making the animal speaking powers return to their rightful owners. Felicity was given a new necklace, she would now not need it only to talk to animals, but it would also turn her into any animal she would want so she could visit the Pridelands without causing fret or worry in future visits in the jungle.

"But first, there is one more thing, Eliza, about your sister, how well do you think she can keep a secret?" The shaman asked.

The eclipse ended and everything was well again. Sloan groaned as he was on the ground and now waking up. Bree joined him and gasped in horror. Simon sat on top of the lead elephant and glared down to the poachers. They both began to back away from them, not wanting to get hurt. Simon took out his pocket knife, glaring to them. 

"Easy, child... Easy..." Sloan told him.

"No one is stopping Simon Forte now," Simon glared at him, looking into his eyes. "All will be sadness for you, your life will become death, and I will watch the crimson blood leak from your neck!"

The police then arrived to arrest the two poachers. The cops handcuffed Bree and Sloan, both trying to defend themselves against the case, but were going to lose. Simon put his knife away, finding their arrest to be punishment enough, he then slid down from the elephant's trunk on his feet and flew through the air then. 

Cherry came out of the Comvee and held out her arms. Simon then clung to his mother, hugging her neck.

"Oh, Simon..." Cherry whispered to her youngest child.

"I almost did my first killing." Simon whispered.

"Oh, that's my boy..." Cherry hugged him. "My little baby boy out destroying people..."

"He sure is growing up." Forte smiled.

Simon rolled his eyes at his parents, but nuzzled against Cherry.

Meanwhile...

"Need a ride?" Debbie asked the kids as soon as they were powerfully restored.

"We sure do." Vincent said.

Debbie then gave them a ride, Tally and Darwin back with Eliza, and the kids returned with their Pokemon with things going back to normal.

"Hey, Brat Sister and Friends..." Boko pointed once he recognized the kids they picked up on the Congo-Com.

"I don't know where he got that." Debbie shrugged innocently.

"Oh, please." Vincent rolled his eyes.

Eliza gasped once she saw a familiar sight. "Debbie, stop, there's Darwin!"

Darwin was now heard speaking, though griping about the argument he had with the kids, especially Eliza, who was his best friend.

"Yeah, like that'll ever happen." Eliza folded her arms with a smirk after Darwin decided to stay quiet for good.

"Eliza?" Darwin turned back in happiness. "Did you just talk to me?"

Eliza giggled and the two shared a hug, having kissed and made up. The hug was short-lived as Eliza then saw her parents. Even Eliza's grandparents came together. Atticus and Mo rejoined their children. Felicity sighed sadly, until she was suddenly picked up and thrown in the air, but caught in her father's arms, making her giggle and holler happily. Debbie was now saying goodbye to Boko, but they stayed friends and Boko went back to his village after giving her one last hug.

"Wow, I still can't believe we witnessed our very first solar eclipse while saving the elephants." Akito said.

"Hopefully on the next one we won't have to resort to that." Mo chuckled.

"It'll be like years before another one will comes." Atticus chuckled.

The kids frowned about that, but at least they had something to look forward to, still exciting to see their first solar eclipse. 

Nigel watched the elephants and smiled that they were all alive and well now. Eliza was sitting next to him enjoying the site as well. Estelle smiled that Eliza was bonding with her father.

"Hey, Princess..." Atticus came next to his own daughter.

"Hey, Daddy..." Estelle smiled, clinging to him.

"There's nothing like a bond between father and daughter." Cherry commented as she still held Simon in her arms.

"Indeed." Forte said.

Felicity hugged her father again.

Forte chuckled, hugging her right back. "I love you, Fliss..."

"Even if I make mistakes very often?" Felicity asked.

"We wouldn't love you any less..." Cherry said to her daughter and gave her one of her rare smiles.

"Thanks, Maman." Felicity smiled back.

Cherry hugged her and Simon together then before putting them both back on the ground. Simon glared to Felicity, emotionlessly and stoically, he then grabbed her neck and hugged her. Felicity's eyes widened from the hug.

"Don't you ever worry me like that ever again..." Simon whispered sharply, showing that he truly did love her and then let go of her.

"I'll try to do that, Simon." Felicity smiled.

Simon hid a tiny smile to her, but she could in fact see it.

"By the way, we met Terk's mate." Vincent spoke up once his family gathered back together.

"Terk?" Atticus, Mo, and Cherry asked, not having heard that name in ages.

"Are you sure?" Forte asked.

"Yeah, he said his mate was named Terkina, who else could it had been?" Akito chuckled.

"Yep, the only one that called her by that name was her mother." Atticus smiled.

"I remember," Mo smiled back. "We should go say hello..."

The head elephant came up to the Fudo and Forte family and trumpeted to them before going off again.

"You're welcome!" Akito, Vincent, Estelle, and Felicity smiled as he left.

"It feels great to talk to animals." Estelle smiled.

"I never got the point of it until now..." Cherry said to the kids.

"I wonder what this thing does..." Felicity put her hands over her necklace. She then was able to shape-shift into different animals, so she sampled as a lioness cub, a warthog, a meerkat, a hornbill, and a hyena before returning back to normal. "This is, how you say, cool!"

This made the others chuckle to her.

"You're just like Beast Boy." Atticus ruffled up his niece's hair.

"Oh, one of your Titan friends..." Felicity remembered what her mother taught her.

"Yeah, only you're not green and you're a girl," Cherry said to her. "I still won't forget that adventure we had with them in Tokyo... Even if it was a lot of trouble."

"Yeah." Atticus said.

Akito was now glowing and was now able to shape shift into many animals. This was a great power for them. Felicity and Akito then returned back to normal in their human forms.

The next day, before the visiting families decided to return home, Eliza reminded her friends of what they needed to do and once they remembered, they went along with her.

Estelle carried Tally in her arms, singing a soft and sweet melody her father taught her. "Hush now, quiet now~..." 

Tally looked around anxiously for his siblings or mother.

"Tally, do you see them anywhere?" Eliza frowned as they found no other cheetahs.

"This is where we always played." Tally insisted.

"Well, don't worry, I'm sure that she's around here somewhere." Estelle said.

"We'll find her, Kiddo." Akito promised.

They looked behind a tree and smiled as soon as they saw familiar cheetah faces. Akela was licking her other cubs clean. 

"MOM!" Tally called happily.

"Tally?" Akela wondered, but then instantly smiled once she knew it was him. "Tally!"

"Mom, I'm back!" Tally happily rushed to his mother and nuzzled against her.

"We're so sorry, Akela." Estelle apologized.

"Yeah, we really should have listened to you..." Felicity added. 

"I know you are," Akela smiled to them to show she wasn't angry or disappointed. "Tally's home now and safe. Thank you..." she nuzzled against the kids to show her thanks.

"You're welcome." Akito and Vincent smiled back to her.

The cubs all now playfully tackled them.

"Guys!" Debbie called out to them. "Cut the Cheetah Chatter and let's go!"

"Gotta go..." Eliza sighed as she pet the cubs.

"We'll miss you, but we promise to come back as soon as possible." Akito vowed.

The cubs then said goodbye to their human friends before returning together with their mother.

"I don't know how I'm gonna keep this secret of yours." Debbie said as she opened one of her teenage wasteland magazines. 

"Well, you have to, you can only tell others who can also talk with animals," Eliza said to her, remembering what the shaman and Ingrid made a deal with her on. "We kinda agreed to a condition when we got our powers back."

"Uh-huh..." Debbie droned, not fully listening.

"You cannot tell anyone our secret," Felicity said to her. "Because if you do... You'll... Umm... How do I put this?"

"Well, you see, if you tell anyone our secret, you'll turn into a baboon." Akito said before making a little run for it before Debbie would get angry.

"A baboon!?" Debbie flipped out.

"Run!" Akito told the others.

The others nodded to him and ran off as Nigel and Marianne were coincidentally filming baboons at this very moment.

"I am not going to spend the rest of my life with a big purple BUTT!" Debbie yelled out, which made the baboons romp away from her.

"Cut!" Marianne cried as the baboons swarmed over.

"That'll be good footage for the DVD bonus features." Cherry deadpanned.

"Now all we need is music." Forte said.

A baboon jumped onto a radio and turned on pop music.

"Oh, good show!" Colonel chuckled.

"I said music..." Forte muttered in disgust since it wasn't classical, his favorite genre.

Donnie wandered around and started to give everybody wedgies to do his Wedgie Dance. Akito and Felicity looked to each other and just shrugged and shape shifted. The baboons lifted up Eliza, Debbie, Vincent, Darwin, Estelle, and Simon like crowd surfing at a rock and roll concert. Colonel enjoyed the dance number and decided to join in. Cordelia even got in the spirit and joined her family. Akito and Felicity were now meerkats, joining in the dance.

"Oh, look at them..." Forte sighed at the dancing. "I'm ashamed to be apart of this."

"Oh, shut up, you old ninny, and show young Cherry what ya got..." Cherry smirked to him and even danced with him.

Forte was surprised as he was forced to join in on the dance.

Nigel smiled to this and looked to Marianne's camera. "These furless primates you see behind me are part of an untamed subspecies that have taken more in as our own," he told his viewers at home. "Best known as: The Thornberrys."

"The wild Thornberrys!" Akito and Felicity added as they danced in their meerkat forms.

This was going to be one story that, of course, none of them would forget. Marianne set the camera down and joined her husband, taking his hand and joining in their little dance party. Akela smiled as her cubs were all together once more and they wrestled each other, making her one proud Mama Cheetah.

Of course, after dancing, the Fudos and Fortes decided that they should run along home. 

"We sure are going to miss you, Eliza." Estelle said.

"I'll miss you guys too..." Eliza hugged her friends back. "We should really plan on seeing each other again soon... You have my email?"

"Yeah, we'll call you as soon as we get home." Vincent promised.

"Good luck with your Pokemon." Eliza then smiled, patting Lavitar, Vulpix, Misdreavus, and Teddyursa on their heads. 

"We'll be sure to continue to take good care of them." Estelle smiled.

Eliza smiled to her new friends and hugged them one last time. After the families loaded up, it was time to say goodbye until next time. 

"Goodbye!" Eliza called.

Donnie babbled and ran around, but he actually looked sad once he saw the families were leaving and he frowned.

"Don't worry, Donnie," Debbie picked up her adoptive brother. "They'll be back..."

This caused for Donnie to smile and was happy to know that they would see the Fudo family and the Forte family again soon. He then jumped from her arms and ran around in hyperactive circles.

"Maman, do I have to go to boarding school again?" Felicity asked.

"No, you don't have to..." Cherry said to her daughter. 

"Estelle, you are never going to that boarding school ever again." Atticus said.

"Thank you, Dad." Estelle smiled.

"Back to homeschooling." Mo smiled in relief for them, she knew they wouldn't have liked it, especially after trying to go to school with Eloise. 

The flight back home was relaxing, telling them that nothing was going to ruin it. After the planes landed, they all went to their respective homes, ending their adventure.

The End


End file.
